


Puppy Love

by Brie (AttackonTitins)



Series: Puppy Love [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2017-12-27 12:14:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/978725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackonTitins/pseuds/Brie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new shelter had opened up recently. Maybe Levi would check it out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The day was nice, at least. Bright and sunny and warm; the kind of day where people would look into the sky and think, “This is the turning point of my life.”  But the outlook was bleak. The outlook was always bleak.

 It started with the shouts of one person. They screamed “Titans!” at nothing in particular, and fired a cannon. It started with cannon fire, and ended with the lives of many men and women.

 There was screaming. But there was one scream that drowned out the rest. Eren, yelling for his captain. They were on a rooftop in Wall Maria, high above the fighting. And Levi had lost his legs.

 Levi was quiet and cold, hardly breathing. Eren cradled him in his arms, sobbing.

 He chanted “no” over and over like a lifeline, somehow hoping that his heichou’s legs would grow back. Like his did. Like a lizard’s tail. _“Gross.”_

It wasn’t spectacular nor was it special. Death is death, and even though humanity’s strongest had died, the fighting would continue. He coughed and called Eren a brat one last time before he succumbed to his injuries. There was one scream to drown out the rest.

 

* * *

 

 Bare feet slapped cold hardwood floor. It was a gray morning; quiet, clean, and orderly, just the way he liked it. Levi walked into the kitchen, scratching his head, making a beeline for the coffee machine and started a pot. While he waited, he looked around his apartment, painfully aware of how impersonal it was.

Levi had been told on numerous occasions to spruce the place up a bit. A different colored carpet, some pictures maybe? He obviously didn’t care much to, but he did think about it every now and then.

 He reflected on a conversation he and Hanji had:  _"You should adopt an animal! A cat, maybe?"_  She squealed at how cute they were, while he had tuned her out. Cats – pets in general, to be more specific – require care, and extra time spent cleaning after them.

 The beeping coffee pot brought Levi back to reality. Pouring himself a cup, he went and stood on the patio, admiring the cityscape.

 A new animal shelter had opened recently. Maybe he would pay a visit. 

 

* * *

 

 “Levi! It’s only Monday! Why are you here?”

 It was a warm welcome despite the tone.  He had walked into the bar Hanji worked at for a drink before he went home. Classes started today, meaning shitty brats for a solid one hundred and eighty days. It was going to be a long school year. “Have you looked into getting a cat yet?”

Levi sat at the bar. He sighed before talking. “No, I only just left the school.”

“Levi, I told you weeks ago.” Hanji said, disapproving.

  A small glass of whiskey was placed in front of him. Levi ignored her remark and changed the subject. “Have you started your classes yet?” He wasn’t feeling particularly talkative, but he did want to pass the time.

 “Ah, no! That’s next week, didn’t you listen?” Hanji shifted her weight and crossed her arms defensively. If Levi didn’t know better, he’d think she was seriously hurt.

 “No.”

 “At least you’re honest.”

 He sloshed the drink around a bit. “What are you going for nowadays?”

 Hanji brightened a bit and giggled. “Biology! I’m hoping to get a doctorate, but that’s years of schooling.” She sighed. “Maybe I’ll teach it someday, like you!” It was a dry joke, a very poor joke. Meant to be a kick to the balls kind of joke. She knows how much Levi hates teaching sometimes.

 Levi was staring at the bottom of his glass, but he glared up at her. “Very funny, four eyes.” Hanji laughed again and waved her hand. She had to go help another customer, but promised she would be back shortly. Barely a minute had passed when he tipped her and left.

He made his way back to his apartment, still gray and cold. Despite the chill, the weather was pretty nice, so he changed out of his suit and walked over to the park near the complex. It wasn’t a very long walk, just across the block, but it was long enough for him to relax.  

 He plopped down on a bench and threw his arms over it. Levi tilted his head back and stared at the sky for a minute. He thought about shelter Hanji was talking about. It wouldn’t be awful to see what cats they had to choose from, assuming he’d adopt a cat. Maybe they have fish. Fish are fairly easy to take care of.

He minded wandered to other places. Area rugs. Photos. Maybe over the weekend he would stop by a department store and check out their home furnishing section. After he finished grading homework, assuming he would assign it this week. Maybe he would meet someone; that would bring life to his, well. Life.

It was quiet for a moment while he was lost in his thoughts. Then Levi heard yelling coming from across the park and shifted his focus. 

 Some kid was running along with a pack of dogs.

 “Amazing.” Levi muttered. From where he was, he could see a flop of brown hair; he looked tall, too. And was moving in Levi’s direction.

 He stared blatantly at the person moving his way. They made eye contact before the kid grimaced. His expression clearly read, _“What the fuck, man? Creepy.”_ before turning and leading his pack of animal kin in the other direction. Levi was slightly offended; a moment ruined, but waved it off. Maybe the poor guy works at the shelter. No one would have that many dogs.

On the walk back home, Levi made a mental note to check out the shelter this weekend.

 

* * *

 

 Levi felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He was in his classroom, sat at his desk reading papers his students had handed in. The phone was definitely an unwanted distraction. Levi set down his paperwork and read the message, unsurprisingly from Hanji: _Have u been to the shelter yet?_

He sighed. It was only Wednesday; he said he would go Saturday. _No. This weekend, maybe._ He typed it quick and set his phone down onto the desk. His next class would start in a few minutes. Levi heard the vibration again.

 _They have a cute little kitten named Ana. Check her out!_   Was Hanji’s reply, and he decided to maybe look into it.

The rest of the day passed without excitement, but with more texts from Hanji pestering him about the shelter. He didn’t bother replying to those, it was the same jabber over and over. But Levi did drive past the building on his way home, and it did look like a fairly nice place. Trees in the front, some bushes and flowers. Windows. Exciting.

Levi made it home and worked on lesson plans, occasionally reminding himself to look up reviews on the shelter, the animals there, hopefully finding a website. But he didn’t. There was work to be done. Staring out the window while taking a break from cleaning, he saw the same boy from the other day, being led by the same pack of dogs.

 

* * *

 

 It was Friday night when Levi got a very distressing phone call. It was from Hanji, and it was two in the morning. He had stayed up late working on his papers, and maybe some nondescript internet browsing. He had crawled into bed and fallen asleep only an hour earlier.

 Levi hauled himself up onto his elbows and groaned. Snatching his phone from the nightstand, he unlocked it, answering the call just before it went to voicemail. “What?”

 She was hysterical, screaming into the phone, probably sobbing and snotty. Gross. _“It’s Sawney and Bean!”_

 “Those mutts?” If Levi had the energy to roll his eyes, he would. It was too early – or too late, depending – for that amount of sass. “What happened?” He didn’t care much about her dogs, but it was Hanji. He cared about her, at least.

 _“Now is not the time!”_ Hanji said, putting emphasis on each word. _“They ran off! I tried to let them out to go potty, but they ran off! I can’t find them!”_ Something felt a little off about the way she spoke, but Levi waved it off.

Her voice got louder the longer she spoke, so he held the phone away from his ear. He could put his phone on the nightstand and hear her loud and clear. Crawling out of bed, Levi pulled pants and a shirt on. “I’ll be there soon. You’re home, aren’t you?” He tried to sound as concerned as possible, but his tone conveyed clear exasperation.

 Some pitiful noise that sounded like agreement came from the other side of the line. “Okay. I’m on my way. Stay on the phone with me if you need to, alright?” Another sound. There was a sniff, except wetter-sounding. _Gross._

She did stay on call with him for a few minutes before whimpering, _“I’m gonna go wash up.”_ By then he was halfway to her house, and he appreciated the gesture. Levi sure as hell did not want to stare at her snot.

 It was a twenty minute drive to Hanji’s house. Half of which was spent listening to crying, whining, and other various noises that Levi couldn’t place. He knocked at her door, not surprised when she nearly tackled him. “Oh, thank you for coming! I’ve driven all over the neighborhood looking for them, but they’re nowhere to be found!”  

Shoving past her and into the house, he looked at her kitchen counter. She had started to make “missing dog” posters. Levi noticed her look around outside before quietly shutting the door. “Did you call Erwin?” Levi asked, flipping through the papers.

Hanji nodded hurriedly. “Yes, and he said he would call it in, and that he would take care of it!” She grew louder again, and maybe a little defensive. It was slightly off-putting. And weird.

 Levi threw his hands up. “Okay, okay. What do you need me to do?” It was such a hassle, and he was so tired. But it was Hanji. There wasn’t much he could fight on that front.

Sniffling, she spoke quietly. “Can… you write your name and phone number on a little slip of paper?”

 That was weird. Levi gave a strange look. “…Why?” Starting with a howl, Hanji began to cry again. “Alright! Alright.” Tearing off a slip from one of the posters, he did as she asked. “Now what?”

 “Put it in your wallet.”

 This was too weird. Levi did as she said, still questioning it, but listening to nonetheless. When she was done crying again, he threw her a box of tissues. “We should check the shelter in the morning.”

 Hanji perked up instantly. “That’s a great idea! Thank you!” She rubbed her face up a bit. “They open at eight.” Happy wasn’t the right word for it. Nor was relieved. She looked and sounded as though she was won something. Smug, maybe.

 Sighing and massaging his forehead, Levi braced himself for a long night.

 

* * *

 

 They left for the shelter around seven-thirty, and were there promptly at eight. Hanji was almost bouncing in her seat. Levi guessed he could understand why she was so excited. She was quick to exit the car, and run into the shelter itself, leaving Levi behind. She did hold the door open for him, at least, though it was a long wait. He wasn’t in too much of a rush.

 Giving his thanks and walking up to the boy at the counter, Levi inquired about Hanji’s dogs. “Uhm, no, I’m sorry. Nothing.” There was snickering. Levi thought it was the boy, but he turned around and saw Hanji. Why the fuck was she so happy all of a sudden? He turned completely and leaned against the counter.

 “Your dogs are missing and you’re laughing.”

 She threw her head back in a guffaw. “I need to call Erwin. Sawney and Bean probably miss their mama!” She excused herself and wobbled out the door, still in side-splitting laughter. _Son of a bitch._

No sooner did she walk out the door, Levi turned around and gave the kid the worst look he could manage.

Levi cracked his knuckles. There was hell to pay.

 Before he could chew out the boy in front of him, who looked fairly scared, a voice rang from the back room. “Hey, Armin! Can you help me carry this bag of dog food?”

 Levi didn’t know the voice but he knew the flop of brown hair. He knew the look he was thrown too, it was the same grimace from earlier that week. “Hey, Eren, I can, just one moment.” His name was Eren, then. Cute.

 “So, what’s going on?”

Levi rubbed his eyes. Thank God it was Saturday. “My friend Hanji, outside, called me at two this morning howling about her hounds running away.” He directed his attention back to Armin and Eren. “Turns out, they’re with our friend Erwin, and it was a ploy to get me here.” Levi hoped he didn’t have to explain _why_ Hanji wanted him at the shelter. Luckily, neither of the brats got that far.

 Armin and Eren exchanged glances. “Uh.” Eren stuttered. “I’m… Sorry to hear that?” He didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but it sure as hell sounded that way. And coupled with his lack of English skills, Eren was not off to a good start with Levi.

  _What a way with words._ Levi glared at him. “Look, I’m sorry about your – er, her – dogs, okay?” A groan. And more glaring. An extremely pleasant first exchange.

 Armin piped up and pushed him along. “Eren, why don’t you go back to the dogs, okay?” Once he was gone, Armin spoke in a quieter voice. “I’m sorry about him. He’s in a better mood once he’s played with the animals.” He gave a sheepish laugh and shrugged. “Uhm, if there’s anything else we can do, don’t be afraid to stop in again!”

 Levi nodded and walked out the door. Hanji was waiting, sitting on the hood of his car, looking rather pleased with herself. He pointed a finger, swore, and shoved her off the hood.

 Oh, yes. He was definitely coming back. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cats-- no. Dogs. Definitely dogs.

 The following week passed without any excitement. Levi ignored most of the texts Hanji sent him, and some of the texts Erwin sent him, apologizing for the trouble. On Saturday, Levi made a point to visit the shelter as soon as he woke up, and more importantly, as soon as he showered. He would ask Armin about the kitten Hanji had mentioned, maybe consider adopting it, maybe see Eren.

He didn’t. Well, not right away.

Walking into the shelter was no problem. Seeing Armin and exchanging pleasantries wasn’t a problem either. “Could I see—“ Finishing that sentence was the problem. Because when Levi was about to ask to see the cats, he looked out a window and saw Eren tumbling around with dogs, lots of dogs, and some puppies. He looked extremely happy, and adorable. “—dogs. Dogs, I want to see the dogs.” Levi nodded to the window.

Confused, Armin paused a second before leading him outside. “You remember, Eren, right? He and his step-sister Mikasa take care of the dogs.” Armin waved to him and through his laughter, Eren yelled and waved back. “He can help you from here.”

Armin walked back inside, and Levi walked into the pit of dogs. One ran up to him, and he held out his hand for it to sniff. “I thought that you didn’t like dogs? At least, from the looks you threw me in the park the other day.” Eren sauntered up to Levi, hands in his pockets, a big dog by his side.

Levi shrugged. He noticed that Eren _was_ in a better mood after roughhousing. “As long as they’re well trained, I don’t mind.” Levi slid his gaze up, studying Eren. “I was wondering if that was you.” Levi stepped back and stood straighter.

 “Yeah, that’s me.” Eren laughed and scratched the back of his head. “I walk the dogs. And play with them. Mikasa usually feeds them and cleans their dens. When we work together.”

 Levi nodded, he didn’t care _that_ much, but he watched the chaos behind Eren. “I came here to see the cats. A kitten, in particular.” He hoped this wasn’t another ploy by Hanji. Shitty four eyes. Clever, though.

 Trying to hide his enthusiasm, Eren grinned and walked past Levi into the shelter. “This way!”

 Levi walked behind him, following him upstairs and down a hallway. “We like to keep the animals we take in separate from each other. So downstairs is where we keep the dogs. In the basement is where we keep supplies. If there’s a bird, or some sort of exotic pet, we keep them in the main area and in the offices.” Eren waved his hands around pointing to various, nonexistent things.

 “Lobby.”

 “What?”

 Levi sighed. “Main area. Lobby. You mean ‘lobby.’”

 Eren’s trademark _What the fuck?_ look was on display again. “I, okay. We keep the cats up top where it’s quiet.” They walked down a longer hallway, passing a few rooms with glass doors and plenty of windows and sills.

 Rolling his eyes and sneering at Eren’s obvious disdain, Levi looked at the cats. Eren explained the rooms: “We call these colonies. Cat colonies, actually, and the kittens are in the monkey room here.” He smiled and rocked on the heels of his feet. The kittens must of recognized him, because they started to mew and swarm the door.

 That was actually really cute. There was one kitten perched at the top of a cat house, staring right at the two of them. She outstretched an arm and laid her head down in disinterest. Levi pointed her out. “What’s its name?”

 “Ana. We think she’s a Russian Blue.”

 Son of a bitch. Hanji wasn’t kidding. Suddenly, Levi knew the point of the little slip of paper. “What’s their personality type?”

 “Huh? They’re like, regal, I guess? Love kids. Mischievous.” Eren shrugged. “I don’t know.”

 “Obviously not,” Levi mumbled, and pulled out his wallet. “What are your hours tomorrow?”

 “Ten to two.” Eren was confused, Levi could tell. He pulled out the slip of paper with his name and phone number on it.

 “I’ll be back for her,” He nodded to the cat, who was now sleeping. “And, I’ll be back for you.” Levi handed Eren the slip of paper with his name and number on it, strode down the hall and down the stairs. Levi didn’t hear footsteps behind him when he walked down the stairs and out the door. 

 

* * *

 

 Levi found it in his heart to forgive Hanji. He drove to her house as soon as he left the shelter and told her what had happened. She listened to him in awe and excitement, practically vibrating in her seat. She waited until the very end to ask questions and makes comments.

 “So, he didn’t follow you out?” She made drinks for the two of them and sat on the floor of her tiny living room, Sawney and Bean sleeping on either side of her. Hanji placed her drink far away and began to mindless pet her dog’s heads.

 “No. Not that I heard.” Levi swirled what was left of his rum and cola. He watched the dogs breath for a moment before he heard Hanji speak.

 “Maybe he’ll text you.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, Levi. He’s a weird kid.” She was right, he couldn’t deny that. Still, he rolled his eyes, took their glasses to the kitchen to be washed.

“I’m well aware.” Levi replied, the only thing he could think to say. He turned the water on, waited for it to be hot, and grabbed the dish soap. He lathered a sponge and went to work. It was a long moment before Levi heard Hanji’s reply.

 “So what are you going to do about it?” She called. Levi heard a thump; she probably fell in a heap with her mongrels.

 He quirked an eyebrow. Odd question. Levi wasn’t sure of the answer. “Nothing I can do about it.”

 “How old is he?”

“I don’t know.”

 “Does he work or volunteer?”

“I don’t know.”

 He could practically _hear_ Hanji roll her eyes. “Didn’t you do anything when you were there?”

 Levi placed his hands on the counter and leaned forward. “I adopted a kitten. So, yes, I did.” That wasn’t what she meant, and he knew. He finished washing and drying the glasses before wandering back into the living room. “I’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll figure out everything then.” Or maybe tonight, he considered.

 “Alright, alright.” Hanji pet her dogs and thought for a moment. “You should go to a pet store. Pick up everything you’ll need. Want me to make a list for you?” She smiled and left to retrieve a notepad and pen before even waiting for Levi’s answer.

 He nodded. “A list would be useful, yes.” He muttered to himself, and sat down on the couch. He made awkward eye contact one of the dogs. When Hanji came back, she situated herself at the coffee table and began to write.

 After a few minutes, Hanji had down everything he would need. At the very bottom: _Bring Eren home. ;)_  

 “Amazing.” Levi looked up and playfully smacked Hanji across the head. “He could be underage for all I know, still shitting in diapers, and you tell me to bring him home and fuck him over the counter.” He stood and walked over to the door to slip on his shoes.

 Grinning, Hanji quipped, “I never said to screw him over a countertop. You filled in that part by yourself.”

 Levi huffed and walked out the door. He had better things to be doing.

 

* * *

 

 It was one-thirty when he stormed through the door of the shelter with a carrier. Levi looked a little distraught, maybe, a little anxious. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with the little bit of alcohol he drank to steel his nerves earlier.  

 Both Eren and Armin were waiting at the counter, and both were alarmed to hear the door swing open. Levi looked around, looked at Eren, nodded, and tried to calmly make his way across the room. Levi set the carrier down and explained that he was there for the kitten, leaving out, _I’m here for Eren, too._ The boys exchanged a look; Armin was the one who went to get Ana.

 “…Are you okay?” Eren asked, broaching the subject carefully. He set the papers down and reached out tentatively. Levi rub his eyes for just a moment. Eren relaxed a little when Levi nodded.

 “Woke up late is all.” That was a lie. He woke up at seven in the morning. Slept well, too. “Do you drive here?”

 Confused must be Eren’s default emotion, Levi thought. “What? No, I, uhm. Carpool. With Armin and Mikasa. Why?”

  _Say it. Just say it. Don’t even think._ “Would you come back to my apartment with me?”

 Stunned, it took Eren a solid ten seconds to stutter an “Uh—“ before Armin came back downstairs with the kitten. They turned to each other, Eren saying, “You, you can finish up here, right? I need to uh. Talk to Mikasa. Quickly.” He stumbled off to find his sister, leaving Armin with the cat and the papers.

He gave an apologetic smile. “This is the paperwork we need you to fill out. It won’t take long.” And it didn’t. Five minutes maybe, and then Levi handed it back. The two of them worked together to get Ana in the carrier. She was stubborn and quick; Levi figured he could get used to her. If he was lucky she was smart, too.

Armin walked Levi to the door and wished him luck. Mission successful so far, Levi thought, as he walked to his car. He really had to maneuver to unlock the door, open it, and place Ana on the backseat. Levi figured, for good measure, he should buckle the seatbelt around the carrier. He climbed in the driver’s seat and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself. Ana was mewling; he was lost in the sound, and completely startled by Eren tapping on the passenger window.

 Levi unlocked the door and watched Eren climb in. “I thought you had changed your mind.”

 Instead of confused, Eren was sheepish. “Mikasa… wasn’t so quick to let me go. But you seem decent enough.” Levi rolled his eyes, started the car, and put it into gear. “Why, uh. Why are you—“

Before Eren could finish an obviously embarrassing question, Levi interrupted him. “Do you ever speak in complete sentences?”

“Yeah, if you’d ever let me talk!”

 They were going to get along swimmingly.  

 

* * *

 

 Eren whistled when they pulled into the parking lot of Levi’s complex. “These are nice apartments.” He clamored from his seat and shoved his hands in his pockets. Eren looked up at the building for a minute before shutting the car door. Nodding in agreement, Levi shut off the car and got out. Eren followed suit, still staring at the building.

“They are. I’m very lucky.”

 They pulled Ana out of the car and walked inside, up the stairs, and into Levi’s apartment. Conversation was scarce between the two of them; neither really knew what to say to the other.

 “It’s really, like. Metallic.” Eren commented, set the carrier down, and opened the door. “Oh, she’s all the way in the back. It might be a little while before she comes out.” He stood up and surveyed his surroundings a little more.

 Levi was half watching him over the counter that separated the kitchen and the living room. He observed Eren as he looked around and rocked back and forth on his feet awkwardly, stealing glances towards Levi.

 “Do you want something to drink?”

 Eren nodded and asked for a glass of water. He sat on one of the stools opposite Levi, sipping his drink. “So, are you going to talk or not?” The silence was kind of awkward. It wasn’t going well, Levi deduced, and tried to think of a better way to go about it. He was never the talkative type himself, but until Eren opened up he might have to be.  

“I. Uh?”

 “You’re extremely eloquent, obviously.”

 “Hey! I just. Stutter. Sometimes.”

 Levi gave Eren an exaggerated nod. “Sometimes, okay. My apologies.”

 They both glared at each other for a moment before Levi sighed and reluctantly started conversation. Trying to get to know the brat might not be such a good idea after all. “Do you work at the shelter or are you a volunteer?”

 “It’s work. I get paid for it which is cool, because I basically get paid to play.” Eren smiled. “I really like it. I, uhm…” He looked off to the side before continuing. Conversation was definitely getting interesting. “I went through anger management, and one of the assignments was to find a job that released all that negative energy. Mikasa and Armin already worked there and that’s how I got the job.”

 Levi stared intently, waiting for Eren to finish talking. When he did, Levi asked about his friend and sister. “Step-sister.” Eren corrected. “The three of us knew each other when we were kids, but we weren’t really friends, you know? But Armin and Mikasa grew close at the shelter and I did too, consequently.”

This kid was actually kind of smart, Levi thought, and listened to him talk some more. Eren talked – coherent sentences, no less – about his family, school, and work. Neither of them had noticed, but hours had passed, and it was the evening when conversation had dropped off and Eren checked his phone.

 “Oh, Mikasa called. I didn’t notice.”

 Levi stood and stretched his legs. “It’s getting late. I should take you home.”

 “Oh. Okay.” Levi noticed what might have been slight disappointment in his tone. “I don’t live too far. Ten minutes, maybe.”

 Nodding, Levi picked up his keys. “I have work in the morning.” He grumbled, and earned a sympathetic look from Eren.

 “Where did you say you worked again?”

 “Sina Private.”

 “Oh. Cool.”

 

* * *

 

 The following Friday evening, Hanji had work off. She invited herself over with movies, popcorn, and the prospects of gossip. She did it often, unfortunately, and sometimes she got what she wanted. “So~! Where’s your kitten?”

 It had a double meaning. Levi _knew_ it had a double meaning. “Ana is sleeping on my bed.” He paused, wondering if he should even reply to the second implication. He did anyway, no harm. “Eren is...” He wished he knew how to answer that one. They hadn’t spoken since Sunday night. “Somewhere. I don’t know.”

 Hanji picked up on it immediately. Her attention was immediately transfixed and she swooped on his like a hawk. “Did you bring him home earlier this week?” Levi nodded. They had talked for hours; it was relaxing. “Did you screw him like you said you would?”

 That comment earned a glare and a smack on the head. “No. We talked.”

 “About?”

 “School. Work. Family. Friends.” Levi paused before the last bit. “Each other.” He braced himself for Hanji’s impact. Verbally, she got right up in his face.

 She went back and forth between blasphemy and praise. “Progress! Good! You’re making friends!” There was a strain on _friends_ but Levi ignored it. She obviously thought what he thought. “But he hasn’t talked to you this week? Did you give him the little slip of paper? Did you make sure to say that he should call you?”

Leaning back into the couch, Levi recounted Sunday night. “No. We were back here by two, and talked until about six or seven. I took him home, dropped him off, and wished him well.” Nothing that would be considered exciting

 Hanji rolled her eyes. “He probably isn’t the brightest. You might need to spell it out.”

 “As if I have his phone number.” Levi instantly regretted saying what he did. Hanji looked totally offended and gasped. But it was true. Levi hadn’t thought far enough ahead on that one.

 There was another look of disappointment. “Ugh. Well, at least we have something to do _other than_ listening to your relationship mistakes.” She was referring to the movies – and not specifying to Eren whether or not he should call – so she got up and shoved a disc into the DVD player.

 “There’s death in your future.” Levi chided, and huddled up with a bowl of popcorn.

 She left at about midnight and an hour later, Levi was passed out in bed. He didn’t wake until ten the next day with a headache.

 He had the curtains closed, thankfully. Pushing himself up on his elbows, he peered around his room. He looked down, seeing Ana curled up near his thigh. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he scratched at her tiny head before he checked his phone. There was a text message from an unknown number. _Im sorry I didnt text you this week. Ive been busy. Did you want to do lunch tomorrow?_

The screen was blinding. There were another two messages. _Or today, technically._ Levi checked the timestamp. It was sent at three in the morning. The last one read: _Or dinner. Whichever. –Eren_

Levi rubbed his eyes a little more, closing his phone. Those can wait. Coffee first.

 Actually, now that he thought about it, texting never was his strong suit. Levi decided to call instead. Unsurprisingly, Eren didn’t answer. He sighed; this wasn’t going to work if they had two different communication dynamics. Levi left a voicemail anyway. “I got your messages. Dinner is good tonight.” He hung up, hoping Eren would call back soon. There were details to be straightened out.

 

* * *

 

 Eren did call back, a couple of hours later, conveniently after Levi had finished cleaning his apartment. He answered, greeted by a nervous, stuttering Eren.

  _“I, uh. I’m sorry I sent those so late last night, I couldn’t sleep, and I felt bad about not. Uh. Texting you at all this week.”_

It was unsurprising and almost painful. “You need to work on your English.” Levi plopped down on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table. There was a little laugh and some more stuttering from the other end.

  _“Yeah, uh, haha. Is, uhm. There’s a little diner not too far, the food is good and cheap.”_ Eren paused for a second, _“And the place is clean.”_

 That sealed the deal. “Okay. Seven?”

  _“Seven is good. I’ll drive.”_

“You have your license?” Levi was genuinely shocked. He couldn’t picture Eren driving, nor driving well. Still, it would be weird if a college student couldn’t handle a vehicle.

  _“Yeah, it’s just that Mikasa usually drives. And, if you were wondering, I do remember where your place is.”_ How bold.

 “Psh.” Levi didn’t even have a counter for it. “Fine. I’ll see you then.” He hung up and flung his phone to the other side of the couch. Eren actually had the nerve to be sassy. What a brat. Cute, though.

 Levi made a mental note of all the things he needed to do in three hours. Shower, again. Find something to wear. Feed Ana, who was hesitantly walking underneath his legs, mewling for her food. Figure out tonight’s alcohol of choice, and decide whether or not he was going to invite Eren in again.

 It would make a good story for Hanji.

Three hours and fifty minutes later and he still had not decided on Eren. After hearing a knock on his door, Levi figured that maybe the events of tonight would decide for him. Hopefully. After a second, though, he thought of something: he’s known Eren for, what? A week? Bending him over one of the barstools might not be a prime option, though tempting.

 When Levi opened the door, he say that Eren was breathless, almost as if he ran up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. “Hi, uh. Sorry I’m early.” He was apologetic even if being early was a good gesture. Gave Levi the impression that Eren wanted to be there, which is a nice change of pace.  

 Levi looked completely disinterested, even though it was impressive. He shrugged and left the door open for Eren to walk in. “I need to put on my shoes.” Balancing the cold shoulder and hard-to-get games was a delicate process. Levi was pushing it and he could tell by Eren’s response.

 “Oh. Yeah. Okay.”

 Eren stood outside awkwardly. Levi noticed just as he rounded the corner to his bedroom. He backed up a couple of steps. “You can come in, you know.” Eren took two steps in and stopped. Rolling his eyes, Levi continued into his room and slid on his shoes. He clenched and unclenched his hands. Walking out, he saw Eren petting Ana.

 It was cute, and made Levi feel a little warm.

He took heavy footfalls and pulled his phone out to make it seem like he wasn’t watching. Eren stood rigid and coughed; he was blushing slightly. “We should uh. Head out?”

Levi walked ahead, nodding. “How old did you say you were, again?”

“Uh. Twenty-two.”

 “Would you want to go for drinks after?” Hanji shouldn’t be working, Levi thought. And if she was, they’ll walk out. Foolproof.

 “Sure, actually, yeah. I’m a lightweight though.”

 The drive there was uneventful. Levi discovered Eren’s horrible taste in music, and Eren discovered that Levi doesn’t like music. “You can’t just hate on everything you don’t like.” They argued back and forth, all the way into the diner.

 “I can, and I will.”

 “Well, duh, but. Just because you don’t like music doesn’t mean that my taste is horrible.” Eren said, pouting and hunched over his menu.

 “Yes, it does.” Levi responded and saw a very obvious eye roll. He sighed quietly, and decided on his order. “It’s very odd how your speech patterns change.” It was an odd topic to bring up, but he was curious. “Why do you stutter one second, and speak legitimate English the next?”

 Levi couldn’t have predicted Eren’s reply. “I just uh. I guess uhm. I stutter when I get nervous.” Eren sunk further down into his seat. Levi quirked an eyebrow, expecting further elaboration. It was very quiet, but Eren said, “Youmakemenervous.”

 “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Before Eren could reply, the waitress interrupted, taking their orders, eyeing the two of them. When she was gone, they stared at each other. “Well?”

 Eren sat up a bit, but kept his gaze down, “You make me nervous, is all.” It was cute how he said it, like a little kid. Eren was a little red and shrugged his shoulders. He refused to look at Levi.

 Levi knew he made everyone nervous. He was fairly unapproachable, and rude, and generally unpleasant. But Eren continued, “It’s not like, your demeanor or anything. Intimidating as it is. It’s just. I don’t know.”

 Levi folded his hands on the table and kept quiet. This was very interesting. And promising. “My face, you mean?” He added, hoping to encourage Eren to talk more. Levi tried to sound as open and innocent as possible. It worked.

 “I, yeah. I guess so.” Eren tucked his head into his shoulder and turned a little redder. Adorable.

 Turning away and smirking lightly, Levi wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. It was cute, nonetheless, and entertaining to see Eren so flustered. “Look, I usually talk pretty okay around everyone else, I swear.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Levi wiped at the condensation on his glass. He wasn’t sure what else to say, but he knew he should say something. He looked at Eren, who was looking at him, hoping for an answer. Levi went out on a limb. “You’re fairly cute yourself.”

 He saw Eren try to suppress a grin, which he used as an excuse when he saw their food. Once he was settled and had something in his stomach, Eren changed the subject. “You said you work at Sina Private?”

 It was strange, but Levi went with it, “Yeah. I teach Health and Nutrition, and Home Ec. The brats hate me.” He said it nonchalantly, with a shrug and a little fondness. There were some students who he enjoyed, and who enjoyed him, however rare. “I enjoy my job, though.”

 “I bet you’re good at it, too.”

 Sometimes flattery was the quickest way to bed.

 “I would like to think so.” 

Eren was just nodding, shoving French fries into his mouth. He didn’t ask any other questions and didn’t say anything else. Neither did Levi, for that matter. It was quiet until they finished, paid, and walked out to the car.

 “Did you still want to hit a bar?” It sounded like Eren was slightly hopeful. He smiled and walked a little faster to keep up.

 “Sure. Do you know where Wall Maria’s is?” A little alcohol might give Levi a little bit of nerve. It had certainly helped last Sunday.

 Eren nodded and started the car, “I do, yeah. What do you usually get?”

 “Whatever Hanji gives me.”

 “Fair enough.”

The car ride to Maria’s was fine. Conversation was lighthearted; banter was fun, the music not too bad. Walking from the car into the establishment was fine, too. Levi maybe even let himself smile a bit. Until he saw Hanji working. And until she saw them and made a beeline for their table.  There are few times in Levi’s life where he lets his eye visibly twitch. This was one of them.

 When she walked away to get their drinks, Levi pulled Eren by his arm out of the bar. He threw him towards the vehicle and told him to drive. He didn’t explain, but Levi _knew_ Hanji would do something to fuck up, intentionally or not.

 “But!”

 “No.”

 Levi didn’t talk the rest of the car ride, despite Eren’s best efforts. The closer they got to home, the better Levi felt. In the lot, he got out of the car and shut the door. When he turned around to ask Eren inside, he was careening out of the parking lot.

 Great. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh I'm still trying to get my bearings with this whole  
> word thing  
> i'm still gonna try to make these longer i think 
> 
> uhm. 
> 
> ???/? 
> 
> Oh man. Tumblr? shingekitoospooky


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is sassy, the cat is cute, Eren is heavy as hell.

The morning after, Sunday morning, Levi had sent a text to Eren, apologizing for his behavior the night before. There was no acknowledgement of those attempts, just his phone showing that that it had been read. Then Levi called, without success. It went straight to voicemail. He wasn’t sure what to think of it, so he didn’t, and focused on other things instead. Like more nondescript internet browsing to relax his guilt away. And wandering the aisles of a grocery store.

 It was the following Thursday, and Levi was still pissed. He received numerous texts and calls from Hanji, none from Eren, and one, surprisingly, from Erwin: “ _I’m sorry you didn’t get laid.”_

 Brilliant. At least the man had a sense of humor.

Somewhere, in far off reality, he heard a bell ring. Checking the time, he saw it was lunch. It was somewhat a blessing, if not for the usual crowd stampeding into his room, effecting his alone time away from his students. He walked from the podium and sat down in his desk chair with a _fwump._ He turned his phone around in circles, tapped a pen a few times, but it was still quiet.

 Levi waited about ten minutes to hear a joyful Petra walk through the door, though it never happened. He expected to see his other colleagues too, but they never stopped by either. He did, however, see a flop of brown hair peek from behind a bookcase. It caught his attention, so much so that he stood out of surprise.

 Eren sheepishly hid behind the bookcase again before walking out. He timidly shuffled his way up to Levi’s desk before setting two brown paper bags down. “I hope this isn’t weird.”

 No. It was weird. It was totally weird.

 “It’s weird.” Levi managed, holding back a stutter and sat back down. Eren asked if he could move a chair. The answer, of course, was yes.

 He moved the two bags in front of them. “I uh. Brought you lunch.” He tried to smile. “I’m sorry it’s weird. I should have told you.” Eren bowed his head and pulled the food out of his bag.

 Levi hesitantly took it and peered inside. A sandwich, carrots, a little container of dressing, and a cookie were its contents. He rubbed his eyes, then his forehead, then his temple. It was literally the cutest thing Eren had done so far, even if it was kind of creepy. He took everything out one by one, placing it on the desk in an orderly manner. Levi looked at it for a second before he began to organize the food in the order he would eat it.

“This is why I was so curious about where you worked. And, especially after Saturday, I figured an apology might be in order.” Eren said, pulling his sandwich out and starting to eat. Levi opened the bag of carrots first.

 “I hope you don’t expect an apology from me.” _Because I already tried._ Levi was direct and cold, and didn’t bother to look at Eren’s face. He thought he saw him choke, though.

 “N-No! I shouldn’t have just. Drove off. I’m sorry. Especially since…” He shrugged. “I don’t know.” Putting the blame on Eren was wrong, and Levi knew it. But he was still frosted from the ignored texts and calls, and wanted to make it known. Assuming from the shame that radiated off of Eren, Levi figured he felt bad enough.  

He suddenly thought of Erwin’s text: _Sorry you didn’t get laid._ More like, _there was a bright fucking neon sign that read, “I’m gonna fuck this kid’s brains out tonight.”_ That was embarrassing. He didn’t say anything regardless, besides trying to look as disinterested as possible. Did Eren really think they were going to have sex?

 The answer was clearly yes, considering how red he was. Oh boy.

“Eren—“  

“No, I uh. Get it.” Eren nodded, and sunk down lower into his seat. This kid was a pain the in ass and took things a little too personally sometimes. Levi stared at him until he stared back, stupidly. After a moment, Levi rolled his eyes and set his food down. He didn’t really know what to say; it shouldn’t be this awkward. Levi taught an entire three chapters on sex and reproduction every semester with a straight face. He decided to make a joke out of it.

 “I’m not busy this weekend, if you’d like the get the best blowjob of your life.”

It was so crude, but it was so funny to watch Eren choke and nearly spit out his food. His face was even redder somehow, and coughing didn’t help. In a twist of fate, Levi was happy he said it, and even happier when Eren croaked a strangled, “Sure.”

 Well, shit. Now he had to.

 

* * *

 

They had made plans for that Friday night. It was going to be a fairly casual evening: movies, popcorn, and alcohol, always alcohol.

It was about eight when Eren decided to knock on Levi’s door. “I expected you here an hour ago.” Levi said, a fairly cold greeting, but he left the door open for him and walked into the kitchen. He hoped Eren would have picked up on his humor by now.

“Eh, I uh. Got into some trouble. It’s no big deal.” Eren laughed and scratched the back of his head. He took off his shoes and placed them to the side of the doorway. “Mikasa plays twenty questions, and I wasn’t sure if I should wear sweatpants or jeans.”

“So it took you an hour to decide on pants, is what you’re telling me.” Levi stopped, holding the door of the cabinet open, to look at Eren incredulously.

“H-Hey! It’s takes like. Ten minutes to get here.” Eren picked Ana up and sat down on the couch. He held her in his hand. “So more like. Fifty minutes. But I spent a solid twenty fighting off my sister!”  Eren clutched Ana to his chest defensively. She mewled and struggled to get out of his arms.

“So that leaves thirty to pick out an outfit.” He turned his back to pour some chips in a bowl. Eren was sputtering a defense before finally giving up and mumbled quietly to the cat. Levi thought he might of heard something like _“no one understands.”_

He walked over and set the bowl on the coffee table, ignoring Eren, who’s trying desperately to communicate with the cat. He sat down next to him and pet Ana’s head. He heard a sharp intake of air before Eren spoke. “So, uhm. I wanted to ask you.”

“If it was about the blowjob, that was a joke.” Levi was deadpan, staring right at Eren, his gaze unwavering. He did it purposefully to make Eren uncomfortable, and it worked. It was really funny, too.

Eren squirmed and, looking desperately for something to do, let Ana down. “Could you like. Not. Do that?”

Levi laughed under his breath. “You sure are easy to rile up.” He was smiling slightly, and he could tell _that_ was making Eren uncomfortable. “What, am I that awful to look at?”

Eren sat straight and turned bright red. He was still facing Levi, and couldn’t move. “N-No!” He sputtered; he took a moment to calm down before continuing. “Remember what I said at dinner the other week? You’re. Not awful to look at. Can I get a glass of water?”

Levi was fine with Eren rushing into the kitchen area. “Glasses are above the stove.” Throwing his arms around the back of the couch, he watched Eren fumble around the cabinets. “Above the stove, brat. Are you deaf?”

“Excuse me, it’s not my fault your kitchen is complicated.”

Eren thought it was the funniest fucking thing in the world. He threw his head back in a guffaw before _finally_ finding a glass. Levi watched in mild disbelief as Eren continued to giggle as he made his way back to the couch, only taking a break to sip his water. “So what movies you got lined up for this exciting evening?”

“You’re awfully chipper.” Levi commented and stood. He walked over to the entertainment center and pulled out a few DVD cases.  “Horror. Try not to piss your pants.”

About an hour into the first film, Levi noticed that Eren had set his glass of water down on the coffee table and didn’t touch it. They were curled up kind of close; close enough that, if he wanted to, Levi could extend his fingers and brush Eren’s foot. But feet are gross, so he won’t.

A half an hour into the second film, they were shoulder to shoulder, fingers still not touching, barely even acknowledging they were leaning on each other. Eren, though he wouldn’t admit it, jumped and maybe yelped a few times. Levi would scold him, tell him to calm down, and he would. Amazing how Eren would listen sometimes.

It was a struggle to get up and change the DVD for the third movie. Eren volunteered, leaving Levi on the couch. Neither of them wanted to get up, they both just wanted to _sleep,_ but neither wanted to leave their movie marathon unfinished. It wasn’t long before the both of them were tangled up together and asleep.

The next morning, Levi woke up to an annoying buzzing sound. He felt the vibration too, and realized he was on the vibration.

He was lying on top of Eren.

Levi was frozen for about a minute. He wiggled around a bit, hopefully waking Eren up, but to no avail. The buzzing continued, it was right on his hip, it was probably Eren’s stupid sister calling, _the phone is right on his hip-_

“Hn?” Eren sniffled, sighed, and stretched a little. The brat was finally awake. He squeezed a hand on the small of Levi’s back and sighed again, smiling. A few seconds later he realized where he was. “Whoa!”

Eren nearly flipped and almost threw Levi onto the table. Instead he landed at the other end of the couch. They were still only half awake, processing their surroundings. Eren stuttered and fished his phone of his pocket. “God, Mikasa called like. Thirty times. Oh my God.” He rubbed his face and dropped his phone of the floor.

Levi stumbled up and walked into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Ana was already waiting by her food dish for breakfast. She was precious, smart, and most importantly, clean. The perfect pet for him.

He heard Eren grumble something, and then start talking hurriedly. “Yeah I’m—No, Mikasa, oh my _God,_ I’m okay. I fell asleep. No, of course not ew why would--! Gross. Really gross. _We_ fell asleep, not _I fell asleep and it was time for Levi to be creepy.”_ The last bit at the end was rushed and quiet. There was a minute where he was silent, before Eren stood up and rushed out the door. If he wasn’t mistaken, Levi heard yelling from the hallway.

When Eren came back, Levi had two cups of coffee waiting for them at the table. Eren plopped onto the chair, grasped the mug in both hands and inhaled the smell. He took a sip too before complimenting it. “You make good coffee.”

Not one for small talk, and maybe a little nosy, Levi disregarded it. “Everything okay with your sister?”

Eren groaned. “Yeah, she’s just. Protective. She worries, you know?”

Levi nodded. He had some idea, considering he was friends with Hanji. Though it probably wasn’t a worry in the same sense. Similar enough. He assumed she would want Eren home as soon as possible, and as much as Levi would hate to admit it, he didn’t want Eren to leave. So he took a leap of faith: “You’re welcome to stay and shower if you’d like.”  Levi offered. Though he wasn’t sure how he felt about a clean Eren parading around in dirty clothes.

Luckily Eren was on the same page. “Maybe some other time. No other change of clothing. Thank you, though.” Eren smiled at him and sipped on his coffee.

Levi looked down at his coffee and nodded. As childish as it was, he slightly disappointed Eren wouldn’t stay. The kid was actually growing on him. After minutes of silence and once they had finished, Levi spoke. “I can show you out.” Eren gave him the strangest look. “It’s called being a good host. It’s polite.”

“Yeah, host. Okay.” His mockery didn’t go unnoticed, so Levi smacked Eren upside the head. “Polite, yeah. Gotcha.” He laughed. Levi assumed Eren enjoyed the sass.

While Eren laced his shoes, Levi unlocked the door and opened it for him. Eren stood awkwardly before bowing slightly and quickly, standing upright again, and kissing Levi on the cheek before he bolted out the door. Levi watched him run down the stairs. Even though Eren was moving fast, Levi thought he saw the kid smiling.

Eren sure was cute.

Brat.

 

* * *

 

“He _kissed_ you?! That is so cute, Levi!” Hanji squealed, and fell back on her sofa in a heap. “Right on your cheek too.” She was smiling and giggling, and her nose was scrunched up the way Levi always thought was the cutest thing. As cute as it can get with Hanji, anyway.

He couldn’t help but smile a little bit. He and Eren had been texting regularly for most of the week, with a call thrown in here and there. “I don’t think I told you. After your shenanigans a couple of Saturdays ago, he showed up at the school with lunch.”

“Get the hell out.” Hanji said and flew upright, staring right at Levi. “You didn’t tell me! Why didn’t you tell me?” She brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on them to pout. “I feel betrayed.”

“Oh, please. Save it.” Levi pushed his hair out his face and rested his head on his hand. “It was only because I was an asshole.” It was something that needed to be said. It was incredibly rude, the way Levi handled the situation, and it could have gone better. He wouldn’t dare admit it to anyone else.

“You, an asshole? _Never.”_

Hanji was the only person Levi would allow to sass him. Maybe Erwin too, but that wasn’t really part of his personality. He would glare at her, and she would giggle to her heart’s content. That was a pretty good summation of their relationship. Glare-at-Everything and Giggles.

And even though he wanted to out-sass her, he couldn’t. Levi liked to claim that he had an unfair advantage when in all actuality, he was a little pansy, to some degree. So he opted for staring at her instead.

It was a peter contest, and he won. She got up and walked around the back of the sofa. She patted the top of Levi’s head. “I’m so proud, my little baby is growing up.” Hanji giggled again.

He swatted her hand away and scooted over. “I’m not a baby. I’m a full grown man with a full time job.”

“And a boyfriend!”

Levi _cringed._ “He’s not my boyfriend.” He said, and it took every ounce of effort to not scream it at the world. Though, the thought was nice.

“He’s totally gonna be your boyfriend!” Hanji sang. She was in the kitchen now, probably mixing drinks. Levi didn’t actually plan on staying that long, but he didn’t really object to two shot glasses and a bottle of tequila.

He ended up spending the night drunk on Hanji’s sofa. Wouldn’t be the first time, and he doubted it would be the last, if Levi could think that far ahead. He did wake up with a massive hangover, though, sprawled all over the sofa and in a puddle of his own drool. He also noticed a lack of shirt.

Which he saw Hanji wearing. She was standing in the kitchen, looking out a window, and holding a mug of coffee. Levi tried to grunt _good morning_ as loud as he could. Thankfully she heard and smiled at him. “Good morning yourself.”

God, his head hurt. “Why are you wearing my shirt? How does it even fit you?” Levi twisted over onto his stomach. He shoved himself up on his elbows, and carefully tried to stand from there.

“Okay, one, it doesn’t fit me. Two, I’m keeping it. Three, because you took it off last night.” Oh. That didn’t sound good. Hanji elaborated, thankfully. “You complained about it being really warm.” That wasn’t weird. It happened a lot, at unfortunately the wrong places.

“You know, I need that back to drive home in.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waved it off, put her cup in the sink, and announced she was going to shower. If Levi was sneaky, he could steal the shirt back when she was distracted. Downside, Hanji naked in a shower.

Well.

No. Home. Shower. Pain killers.

 

* * *

 

The following week Levi had taken Ana for her first vet appointment. He learned a lot about her temperament, and Russian Blues in particular: they were playful, mischievous cats. They liked kids, specifically the youngest in the family, and were skittish around strangers. Blues were known for their upturned mouths, which made it look like they were smiling, and a tail that looks like a raccoon’s. It wasn’t uncommon for Blues to be picky eaters, and sometimes they had little tufts of white fur on their bellies. Which, Ana did not.

“Generally, pure bred Blues do not because they’re bred for show quality and not pet quality. The show quality Blues are generally more regal and royal-looking.” Levi repeated back to Eren. They were sitting comfortable on Levi’s couch, his feet in Eren’s lap. Levi had a book in his hand, which he was noticeably not paying attention to. Eren had his arm’s swung over the back of the couch, with his head rested against it.

“So, basically. You have a purebred, show quality Russian Blue kitten, which are really pricey to come by, living in your apartment, adopted through a shelter.”

The answer was yes, but Levi didn’t reply. He closed his book and mirrored Eren’s position: he rested his head against the arm of the couch. “I’m glad to know that your English has improved.”

“Hey, okay. Look.” Eren lifted his head up and pointed at Levi. “It was funny before. Now it’s not. I get nervous sometimes.” Eren tried to say it forcefully, but it sounded really pathetic. Levi snorted and nodded his head. “Really!”

“Whatever you say.”

“Ugh.”

That was how most days went when they were together. Relaxing, playful banter, and maybe some television. For the next month Levi and Eren were together a couple of times a week, sometimes getting dinner, sometimes having lunch at the school, and sometimes they spent the evening together. That was usually on Fridays or Saturdays, so they could stay late. Hanji was overjoyed, and she made it known. Levi received a text or two sometimes from Erwin as well. Just stupid things like, _“I’m really glad everything is going well with Eren. I’m free this weekend, would you like to catch up?”_ or, _“Hanji told me about your big date tonight. Don’t screw up.”_

“Don’t screw up.” Basically meaning, “Get laid.” Cool.

Big date was one way to put it. It was more like a fancy restaurant-alcohol-home date. They stumbled through the door of Levi’s apartment at about eleven at night. They were kind of sober, more so buzzed, extremely relaxed. And Eren was feeling very bold.

He hadn’t made any moves since the stunt a month earlier, planting a small goodbye kiss on Levi’s cheek. But tonight, Eren turned Levi around, pushed him back, wrapped an arm around his waist and fell on the couch. He was flushed from the alcohol and a little breathless. Eren looked surprised at his own daring behavior, and maybe a little nervous, but it didn’t stop him from burrowing his face into Levi’s neck.

“You smell nice.” Eren slurred, and licked Levi’s neck. Levi shivered and pawed at the hem of Eren’s shirt.

“It must be the, nn, the wine.” It was hard to do, what with Eren’s weight, but Levi managed to roll his hips up, eliciting a groan from Eren.

“Aha, yeah. Must be.” Eren pushed himself up onto his hands, so he was looking down at Levi. They looked at each other for a moment before Levi pulled Eren back down and kissed him. It was nice the way Eren’s tongue swiped at his bottom lip, how he sucked Levi’s neck, and the way Eren’s hand felt on his hip.

They stayed like that for a while, kissing and nipping at each other’s lips, before Eren got a call. It was Mikasa asking if they could switch shifts at the shelter. Eren groaned, not in pleasure, and agreed. He hung up, shoved his phone back into his pocket, and nibbled Levi’s earlobe.

“I’m sorry. Bright and early tomorrow, and it’s late.”

Levi didn’t say anything. He just pushed Eren off of him and onto the floor. It was a moment before he spoke. “Fine.”

It was curt and cold, and Eren was slightly offended. So Levi sat upright, gently grasped Eren’s chin and kissed his cheek. He saw Eren smile and Levi did too, a little bit. “Drive safely.”

The next morning, with his coffee, Levi watched the news. There were no reports of a love-drunk kid in a car crash. So, at least there was that to be thankful for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man you guys there's such a storm going on in the ereri tag on tumblr  
> i'm scared to post this but i really want to so #yolo 
> 
> I just wanna say that I've had Russian Blues my whole life and I love the hell out of those cats ok if you're ever looking for recurring themes in the shit i write that's something to keep your eyes peeled for 
> 
> Just a little thing I want everyone to keep in mind: Levi is canon height and Eren's fully grown so he's like twice Levi's size. Height different oooohh i love it  
> I know there was stuff I wanted to say but I remember I kid I remember my laptop busted out last week which is why this is late by a few days  
> or maybe it isn't  
> I dunno man I hope you enjoyed it uwu 
> 
> Tumblr! shingekitoospooky


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little plot shows up, with not much else.

Levi made no plans with Eren for the following weekend. They hardly talked, in fact; Eren was busy with the shelter, applying to work at other places, and Levi had papers to grade, lessons to plan, nothing really out of the ordinary. He did put a few hours aside to spend Erwin, for the first time a while. They had made plans to have coffee at his apartment that Saturday.

It was quiet. Levi was at Erwin’s apartment, sitting at the kitchen table. His place was more personal than Levi’s was, more photos and pillows, but it was missing something. Erwin was fussing with some object, probably the coffee machine. Levi could sense the eye-roll just before he heard a beep. Erwin walked over to the table and sat, his head rested in his hand, elbow on the table, staring thoughtfully at him. “I’m glad things are working out for you and Eren.”

Levi squinted at Erwin. Was that all they were really going to talk about? He sighed quietly, though not unnoticeably, and agreed. “Yeah. Brat’s growing on me I guess.” That wasn’t _too_ far off base. Levi carefully left out the part where he was growing on Eren. They were growing into a cute mushy couple. Gross.

Erwin was amused. “If you’re going down, he’s going down with you, hm?” He laughed. As if Levi’s pride and dignity were something to joke about. “Hanji likes to talk about you. She’s very happy that you’re becoming sociable.”

“I’ve always been sociable.” That wasn’t totally a lie, either. Levi was just. Unapproachable. Maybe callous. And occasionally rude, but not without reason. Okay, maybe he wasn’t always sociable.

“Okay. You’re right. Excuse me.” Erwin lifted his hands off the table defensively and leaned back. He was trying not to laugh. When his snickering returned to an entertained smirk, he put his hands down and crossed them over the table. It was quiet for a second before he brought up an entirely different topic. “Does Eren seem familiar at all to you?”

Everyone was so _weird._ Either that, or he was totally unaccustomed to social norms. Asking if someone you’ve never met before seems familiar to you. Okay. “Uh.” The answer was no, but all Levi could do was look at his friend. After a moment of an intense staring contest, Levi actually uttered his reply. “No.”

“Huh.” As if that was the strangest thing that could happen. Erwin looked away for a second, towards the windows in his little living room, as if contemplating something. “Coffee?”

What the fuck. “No. I haven’t been drinking as much lately.”

That struck Erwin by surprise. He stood and brought out one mug for himself. “Really? That’s good to hear. Eren is having such a good influence on you, isn’t he.” He trailed off a bit near the end there, it was obviously rhetorical, but Levi still heard. His hand curled into a fist on his lap.

He really, _really_ wanted to say that he can change for the better _by himself,_ but Levi honestly couldn’t object to it. He didn’t know how, first of all, and secondly, maybe it wasn’t totally wrong. He uncurled his hand and thought about it for a moment. He certainly enjoyed Eren’s company, he had fun, and he didn’t feel totally out of place. He was definitely much more relaxed around Eren, and he was a little more playful, though it was kind of hard to tell.

It was bullshit. No way. 

Whatever.

 

* * *

 

They obviously weren’t conspiring, Erwin and Hanji. Because Levi didn’t hear a word of the same nonsense that Erwin spouted when he visited Hanji a few days later at the bar. Levi showed up near close so they could pick up some food and head back to someone’s place. He wanted to bring up the conversation about Erwin, but he was afraid that Hanji might. Go nuts.

He did anyway, very briefly. Hanji looked at him as if he was insane. She shrugged and took another bite of her pizza. “Who knows.”

Levi wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. He let it slide anyway. It was easier than dealing with the other options. So they talked about little else, just sat around and ate pizza. Once he made sure the plates were washed and everything was put away, Levi took his leave and went home. Hanji wished him well and padded off to bed. It was a nice, quiet evening, a rare one at that, and when he got home he was able to sleep soundly, even if it was late.

It was two in the morning when Levi fell asleep. He woke up the next morning, around ten, to a text from Eren. _“I need a change of scenery. Can I come over?”_

Levi couldn’t say no, so he didn’t. And no sooner did he reply, Eren shot back, _“Be there in ten!”_

Ugh. Too soon.

He showered quickly before anything else. He didn’t even have time to get dressed before he heard Eren pounding away at the door. Make the kid wait, or walk over in a towel?

It was a quick decision. He always loved to tease, and Eren was an easy target. Levi opened the door with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He waved Eren in before walking behind the counter of the kitchen and starting a small pot of water for tea.

Eren was carrying a stack of papers and was obviously flustered. Levi nodded in his direction after the water was put on to boil. “What are those?”

“Applications.” Eren shrugged, barely concealing his stutter, and sat down at the table. He refused to look at Levi, so he sorted the papers around and asked for a pen instead. Eren shifted his gaze down and scratched the back of his head. He was so cute and modest, how ironic would it be if Eren was kinky as hell in bed?

“Okay. Applications to where?” Levi had to walk into his room for a pen, but he heard another vague answer from Eren. Something about schools and other establishments. He took the opportunity to pull on a shirt and pants, and rubbed the towel over his head a few times, throwing it in the hamper. When he came back into the kitchen, Eren turned and was noticeably relieved that Levi was clothed. Again, he was struck by how shy Eren was – though he wasn’t the other week – and tossed him the pen.

“Applications to where, again?”

“Oh, uhm. Colleges. Nothing big. My parents want me to fill out ones for big name schools, but. I’m still really undecided, so.” Eren rolled his eyes and tapped the pen on the table. He sighed and continued. “And other jobs. I love working at the shelter but I don’t want to do it forever. I kind of just want to branch out and see what I like.” That was smart. Eren was twenty-two, though. It was time he got around to it.

“That’s fair.” Levi poured himself a small cup of tea and sat down at the table. “Is there anything you’ve considered?”

Eren was taken aback by the question and sat rigid. It was like no one had asked him before. “I. Uh?” Wow, thinking about careers you may like. He was so dumb sometimes.

Levi rolled his eyes and sipped his tea. “Obviously you shouldn’t consider being an English major.” Eren pouted. Levi smirked. He loved their play banter.

“Well, I mean.” Eren rested his chin on his hand and tapped the pen against his head. “I told you I took some anger courses and stuff, right?” Levi nodded and Eren continued. “Well, when I finished, I thought that it was really cool. Like with the counselors and stuff.”

Levi wasn’t sure how this fit into a career path. So he waited for further elaboration. It didn’t come. “So, have you thought about being a counselor then?”

Eren nodded meekly. “I guess so.”

Levi wasn’t a teacher for nothing. “If you go to school to become a psychologist, or a counselor, or a psychiatrist, you can work at an institution or a school, or you could combine with a teaching degree, and it opens a lot of doors.” Eren looked amazed, like he hadn’t heard it before.

“Or, and it’s a long shot, you could open your own firm. But you could.”

“You mean like, own my own business? And hire others to work with me?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s. Really cool.” Eren perked up and shuffled his papers around again. “I’m gonna look into it.”

“There’s someone a work with that I could talk to. Maybe she’ll let you shadow for a day.” Eren grinned and nodded enthusiastically. After that, Levi didn’t do much other than nod and stare at the floor. He figured he should work on something too, so he went back to his desk and grabbed his computer and a stack of tests. They spent some of the afternoon in quiet, before Eren’s stomach started to growl. Levi texted Hanji and told her to bring something to eat.

It was about an hour later when she showed up with a bag full of takeout. She plunked it down on the counter, said hello to Eren, and pulled out a few plates. “Feeling domestic today, are we?” She giggled and grabbed silverware, laying the food out, and shoveled some onto her dish.

It would have been bizarre if she didn’t make a comment, so Levi rolled his eyes and scooped some Lo Mein onto his plate. Eren was flustered, however, and stuttered a vague “hello.”  Levi dropped a plate in front of him, which he graciously took and began to eat.

“So what are you two up to?” Hanji said between mouthfuls of food. Levi shrugged, and Eren was too busy to reply. He did manage to shove his papers out of the way, at least.

“He’s handling… stuff. I’m doing school work.” Levi answered for the both of them. He shrugged again and sat down at his laptop.

“What kind of stuff, Eren?”

Eren looked up from his plate and smiled. He swallowed and said, “I’m filling out job applications and college applications for the spring semester.”

“Really!” Hanji was ecstatic; she and Eren carried their own conversation while Levi stared out the window and ate his food. Hanji pestered him with questions about possible career choices, what she was studying, and how she would be more than happy to help Eren if he needed it. They continued to chatter when he stood to put his plate in the sink. “Oh, Eren. I’ve been wanting to ask you.” That was Hanji; her voice was quiet.

Levi tuned in and out of their chat, but this bit caught his attention. He stopped washing his plate for a second to listen; he could almost hear Eren perk up. He could imagine the brat sit up in his seat, eager to help and answer any questions. Sometimes, when Levi really thought about it, it was like having a puppy. “Yeah?”

“Did Levi ever tell you about his dark past?” Hanji let her voice lower at the end of her sentence, adding an ominous tone. Levi slowly turned, plate and washrag in hand, and he saw Eren staring wide-eyed at him while Hanji was snickering.

“D-dark past?” Eren swallowed and laughed nervously. Levi assumed he thought Hanji was lying. She was.

“Yeah—“

“No.” Levi placed the dish towel back on the bar of the oven. “I grew up in a bad neighborhood. That’s where the story ends.” He sat back down at the table and glared at Hanji. She pouted and sighed.

“You’re no fun.”

“Stop trying to scare the poor kid. He’s intimidated by me enough as it is.”

“Hey!”

Hanji left a couple of hours later, with minimal harassment. She did try to insist the “dark past” thing, but Levi had none of it. He threatened to kick her out if she brought it up one more time, after thoroughly embarrassing Eren.  While Levi’s back was turned, she made a comment and a groping motion with her hands, to which Eren turned beet red. To be fair though, Eren was pretty handsy in their makeout sessions.

When she left, Eren fell back on the couch and sighed. “God. She’s a handful. How are you two friends?”  He rubbed his eyes and laughed. “Opposites attract, I guess.”

It was the way Eren landed that caught his attention, not what he was saying. The way his shirt rode up a little bit so his stomach peeked out. The way Eren was stretched and the way his legs laid. Levi let his hand fall from the doorknob. He stood and watched Eren for a second, saw his arm wipe his forehead, watched him move it so it hung over the arm of the couch. Levi watched the steady rise and fall of Eren’s stomach when he breathed, watched him adjust his feet comfortably. After a moment, he strode over to Eren, swung a leg over his hip, and straddled him.

Eren wasn’t too surprised, it startled him for maybe a second, but he let his hands wander up Levi’s thighs to rest on his hips. His thumbs moved in circular motions. “I’m tired.” He said, and pulled Levi’s shirt from the waist of his jeans.

“What do you want?” Levi placed his hands over Eren’s. He guided their fingertips underneath the hem of his shirt.

“To sleep.” Eren’s hands disappeared underneath the fabric. His hands glided over Levi’s chest and stomach, his thumbs brushed his nipples. Levi arched a little bit, something Eren easily picked up on.

“I’m not tired enough.” Levi started to grind his ass on Eren’s crotch and saw him gasp. Levi leaned forward, placed his hands on the arm of the couch, pulled his hips up, and rolled them back. Eren let out a breathy moan; he pulled Levi down and kissed him.

“Do you want to nap, then?”  Eren sucked on Levi’s neck. “Or. Just like. Something?”

“Eren, you’re awful at dirty talking.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, so, we need to talk.” They were sitting in some run down bar, sharing drinks. Eren threw his shot down on the table and pointed at Levi. He shook his hand and picked another glass up, downing it. “Like, really. Talk.”

Levi knew things like this were never good. Good thing he wasn’t sober. “What do we need to talk about.”

“We. Need to talk about.” Eren waved his hand around in the air. “A lot of things.” He wasn’t kidding when he said that he’s a lightweight. He was just short of slurring his words, a couple of beers and shots later, but continued to drink anyway. Levi knew Eren would have a serious headache come morning.

“Could you be so kind as to elaborate.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t. Levi sighed, prompted him again, and was surprised by the answer. “Are we like. Dating?”

“Oh, I don’t know, between the days and nights spent together, the making out, and the occasional nap taken together, I was pretty hazy on the details myself.” There was no way Eren was that stupid. Well, it was Eren. Levi was unremarkably rude, and Eren’s expression told him so. The brat was completely taken aback and stared, stunned.

“Hey, watch it!” Eren sputtered after a few moments. He rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment. Levi saw a little red in his cheeks and fixated the way his tongue peeked out and swiped over his lips. The first word that came to mind was delectable. But now was not the time.

“I’m sorry. What else did you want to talk about?” Levi couldn’t even hear himself think over the music. He looked around and decided that maybe this wasn’t the best place for a conversation, and lead Eren out. So as not to lose each other in the fray, they held hands on the way out, and Levi’s head stopped throbbing a few minutes after they had gone outside. Their hands dropped from each other, Levi shoving his into his pockets and Eren crossed one arm over his chest.

“I just. Wanted to know. Because I want to.” Eren’s other hand was seemingly glued to the back of his neck. He shuffled his feet and looked at the ground, up at the sky, then tapped the toe of his shoe on the ground. It was cute. “I’d like to, at least y’know, define something?”

Because it was closing on two months of sexual tension and bad television. Because it was two months of, _“Drive safely.”_ and _“How was your day?”_ It was a conversation that needed to be had, and that was simple. But there wasn’t much to say about it. Although he wouldn’t entirely admit to it, Levi wanted to, too. So he shrugged his shoulders and let his head loll back. All he said was, “Okay.” And he assumed that was that. It never is.

“So. Wait.” Eren took one hand and rubbed it over his face. “That’s it?”

Levi shrugged again. Eren was still obviously confused. “No, like. Some huge deal or fight? Just, ‘okay?’”

Levi rolled his eyes and nodded. God forbid he speaks, out of the fear he would say something wrong, but that was the general idea, to roll with dating. Or maybe it was an official relationship Eren was talking about. Either way, it was okay. Like Erwin said, maybe he was a really good influence.

“So I can change your contact in my phone?” Eren was fishing around in his pocket. Levi quirked an eyebrow.

“To what?”

“Maybe something like, ‘the boyfriend.’ Or, ‘the bae.’”

“Don’t talk to me.” Levi lifted his hand and walked past Eren to his car, unlocking it and climbing inside. He listened to Eren’s muffled laugh, watching the boy jog towards the vehicle. Levi unlocked the passenger door wordlessly and waited for him to get in.

“Come on, it was funny.” Eren said. He buckled his seatbelt and relaxed. Levi put a hand on his thigh after putting the car in gear. His thumb moved in circles over the seam of Eren’s jeans.

“I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who thought it was funny.” Levi pinched Eren and from the corner of his eye, saw him jump and heard him start laughing again. He smiled a little bit and started to rub where he pinched Eren.

“I have another question.”

“Yeah?”

“This is a little more awkward.”

“Just spit it out. Jesus.” Levi was a firm believer in never pussy-footing around anything. It hindered his English grade in high school – _“Describe in detail…”_ No. – and it came across as blunt, but it was helpful when explaining sex to a bunch of fifteen year-olds. Not that they didn’t already know.

“Okay, jeez, you’re so mean.” By this time, Levi had pulled into a space in the apartment parking lot and was clambering into the chilly autumn air. Good thing for nearby bars: shorter, safer distance to drive if they got too tipsy. Once inside, they walked down a hall, hand in hand. Eren tugged him closer; close enough so he could swing his arm around Levi’s shoulder while they waited for the elevator. It was a fairly warm and intimate gesture, and Levi leaned into it. “So, I’ve met Hanji. And you have another friend Erwin?”

“Yes.” He wasn’t sure where this was going. Was that the only question? Levi wrapped his arm around Eren’s waist. A couple of seconds later there was a _ding_ from the lift. They walked inside and huddled against the back wall.

“I want to meet Erwin. And I want you to meet my friends.” It was a little surprising to say the least, and Levi pinched Eren again, this time on the hip. Eren flinched and rolled his eyes. “Since it’s October, someone I know is hosting a Halloween party. We don’t have to dress up and I’d actually prefer not to, but would you want to go?”

Socializing. “No.”

“Oh.”

Eren sounded so disappointed, there was no way Levi could leave him hanging. “We can plan something for you and your friends. I’m not going to a party with a bunch of college brats.” It would make him look _so_ old. There was no way Levi was going to embarrass himself like that, ever. Eren still looked slightly disappointed but tried his best to shrug it off. Levi assumed that, were they to plan something, it would just be the two of them, plus Armin and Mikasa. That he could handle.

“Just thought I’d ask.” They walked out of the elevator and headed towards Levi’s apartment, Eren’s hand grasped his shoulder. “Am I spending the night?”

“What?”

“You didn’t drop me off at home.”

Oh. Well. There wasn’t any way Levi was going to head back out, so he nodded as if he thought that far ahead and unlocked the door. Once inside, he toed off his shoes and collapsed onto the couch, sighing. Eren flopped on top of him. He was half asleep when Levi whispered, “This is so uncomfortable. We’re moving to the bed.”

Eren groaned quietly and rubbed his face on Levi’s chest. It was cute, but Levi wanted up. So he pushed Eren off with a grunt; he was so heavy, and Levi was so tiny in comparison. Eren whined very audibly and pushed himself off the floor. “Thawas uncalled for.”

“Come on.” Levi stumbled his way into the bedroom and pulled off his shirt. He was about to undo the fly of his pants, but was interrupted when Eren snuck up behind him and tackled them both onto the bed.

“Yerwarm.”

“Yeah, thanks brat. Get off.” With a little kicking and shoving, Levi escaped from under Eren and stood up again to take of his jeans. He grabbed a pair of sleep pants from his dresser and eyed Eren, who was lying face down on the bed, watching him.

“That’s the most naked I’ve ever seen you.”

“Yet.”

Eren didn’t say anything after that, just tried to hide a smug smile, then silently stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the sheets. Levi did the same fell asleep soon after, but not before he felt Eren wrap an arm around his stomach and pull him closer. It was so warm, and it felt so safe; eight hours of sleep flew by.

When he woke up the next morning, the sun was peeking through the blinds. He didn’t remember shutting those, but Levi was happy they were closed. He woke up confused and hot, rolled over onto his back, and saw Eren sleeping next to him. The kid looked so relaxed and peaceful, Levi hated to disturb him. He rolled over to his other side and placed his hand over Eren’s, trying his best to turn it over so he could lace their fingers together.

After mission successful, Levi sighed and closed his eyes. It wouldn’t hurt to sleep another few hours. This was too nice to pass up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello uwu 
> 
> this is very late omg i'm so sorry   
> i could say life got in the way but that isn't totally true omg. 
> 
> Alright, so. Chapter four. Chaaapter four. Chapter four. Four. Four chapters. Yeah.   
> This is kinda boring. This part. But you get a little taste of stuff. Basically filler for anyone who cares haha. 
> 
> I have a tag for this fic, I have for a while now. I post little updates and stuff about it sometimes. It's "fic: puplove" on tumblr. (Speaking of, shingekinofuckme is my URL.)   
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos. It means so much uwu i love each and every single one of you come here bring it in we're gonna hug  
> but I do feel like these need to be longer? I dunno. It's not too bad I suppose.  
> Other than that I don't have much to say. Uhm.   
> omg   
> enjoy


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Subtle filler-y reminder that this is a reincarnation fic.

They were lying in bed together again a few nights later. Levi was tucked into Eren’s shoulder and fighting to stay awake. Eren was sweeping his fingers over Levi’s arm, staring at the ceiling. A couple months into their relationship and Eren was staying comfortably at Levi’s place a couple of nights a week. There were passing jokes about him moving in, but they both agreed it was too soon. “This place needs more color.” Eren squeezed Levi closer to him. Levi rolled his eyes and adjusted so he was more comfortable.

“You sound like Hanji.”

“Well.”

It wasn’t an uncommon conversation in general, but it was the second time Eren had brought it up. The first time being when he first set foot into the apartment: _“It’s really, like. Metallic.”_ In any case, the way Eren said it made Levi think that he was actually going to do something about it. And, knowing Eren, the brat actually might. Maybe if he moved in, he would take over the place. That was not the point.   

“I had this really weird dream the other night, too—“

“ _Why_ do you insist on chattering?”

“Hey, hey.” Eren lifted his hands in mock defense and looked down at Levi. “I thought you might want to hear it.”

“You can talk, but it doesn’t mean I’ll listen.”

“Christ, fine.”

Neither of them spoke for what felt like ages. Levi was almost asleep when he heard Eren start talking again. From where he was, Eren’s voice was a low, comforting rumble. “Okay, so. We, the two of us, you and me, were like. Flying around. And we had these swords; they looked like those little boxcutter knives right? Except bigger. And we were killing these things that looked like giant humans except with really weird faces and no dicks. Until one grabbed you, and I cut its hand off! Slice, spurt, boom, and it evaporated. You had to do the same for me on more than one occasion, which is a little embarrassing. But there was one that neither of us saw, and it grabbed you, and I couldn’t kill it in time. So…”

Levi stopped breathing when Eren stopped talking. It was a long moment before Eren finished his story. “So, it bit off your legs. After that, I just remember screaming and—“

“No more television before bed.” That wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare. Listening to Eren talk about it made Levi feel hollow, and legless; that kind of dream is pretty fucking disturbing. He rubbed his legs as discreetly as he could and flipped over, feeling Eren press himself against his back. They fell asleep that way, and when he heard his alarm going off the next morning, Levi kicked Eren in the leg and told him to get up.

Eren protested and locked his arm around Levi’s waist. It was an impossible grip to get out of. The only thing Levi could do was kick and push. “I have work, you lazy brat!”

“And I have a dick that needs to be tended to.”

“You’re disgusting.”

His plan of seduction clearly failing, Eren tried a different route: sympathy, sort of. “Levi, please don’t! It’s warm!” The only grip Eren had was his hand on Levi’s side, which he lost when Levi smacked him. He lied on the bed, defeated, while Levi walked out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. When he turned back to close the door, he saw Eren flopping around on the bed.

While Levi was showering he realized it wasn’t Eren shifting around on the bed.

When he walked out of the bathroom, Eren was laying on his side. Slightly grossed out, Levi made a gagging noise and started a small pot of coffee. He heard Eren shuffle into the kitchen, wiping his eyes. With his hands. The hands he just masturbated with. _Gross._

“I came on your bed.”

“You are fucking disgusting.”

“Are we having lunch today?” Eren came up behind Levi and wrapped his arms around him. The gesture was sweet, but to save face, Levi smacked him away. They had lunch every Monday and Wednesday; at least, they had for the past couple of weeks. Sometimes Eren couldn’t stay, or couldn’t show to begin with. It all depended, right down to the food; basically what Eren felt like making, or buying, and when he could be assed to get out of bed.

“Yes.” Levi sat down at the table. He tapped his cup of coffee a few inches across the table. He saw Eren watching him out of the corner of his eye; he was fidgeting. “You’re changing my sheets after I leave. I don’t want to see that.”

“Oh, please.” There was an unspoken, _“You’re gonna see it sometime, I don’t know what the big deal is.”_ hanging in the air.

Levi got up and walked away, leaving his coffee for Eren. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m getting dressed, packing my briefcase, and leaving for work. And you’ll be changing my sheets.”

His day started off alright, besides a dick poking him in the ass. His day at school wasn’t much better. Today marked the first day of Levi’s three chapter course in sex and reproduction. It was a fairly comprehensive curriculum, and he even made a separate syllabus for it. So, being day one, Levi passed it out, went over the assignments and what they would learn, and began a basic lesson on safe sex. Levi absolutely wanted to teach safe sex for all sexualities, even if some of his colleagues may not agree with it.

He didn’t care. That was the point of teaching. To educate.

Levi shut the door to his classroom. Turning back around, he eyed his kids, and took note of the ones who were thoughtfully reading their syllabus. “Today, we start the sex part of this class. This is probably more action than any of you will receive in high school.”

There was some laughter. It wasn’t like he was hated. “So, that paper I just gave you all. This course is long enough, and so full of information, it needs its own outline.” Levi thought he heard a comment. He paused for a second and looked around the room, but didn’t see anything suspicious. “We start with safe sex. Then all the different kinds of attractions. We learn about babies, contraception, human anatomy, and the list goes on. You can read it on your own time, but for now, that’s what you need to know.”

None of his students looked entirely lost, so he continued: “Today’s first topic is having sex and doing it safely.” He walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out some packets. “This is lube, this is a condom, and this is a dental dam.”

From there, Levi talked about the mechanics of sex, passed around condoms and dams, and showed kids how they worked. While he was talking to a student, explaining why some things need to be taken more slowly than others, he heard the comment. Levi whipped around and saw one of the boys snickering with his friends. “He’s such a fag.”

Levi’s kind of anger was the quiet kind that struck fear into the hearts of small children. He strode over to their desks, kicked one up, and grabbed the other two by the arm and gently swung them away from the class and more towards his desk. “Care to tell who the fag is?”

None of them spoke. Levi asked again, inched a little closer, cornering them a little more. One of them threw his friend under the bus: “He was talking about you!” They were petrified, and rightfully so. Levi turned around, looked at the clock on the wall, figured his class was fine enough, and dismissed them. He turned his attention back to the boys behind him. “The three of you get to spend lunch with me and my very gay boyfriend this week. You,” he pointed to the main offender, “Get the honor of spending every Monday and Wednesday with me and my very gay boyfriend for the next month. All of you will write essays.”

They were going to be so miserable. Levi loved it. Once he had their slips filled out, he sent them onto their next class and waited for his favorite period of the day.

It came around quickly. The three boys shuffled into his room with their food and sat near each other. That was a problem. “No. Move. One in the left corner, one in the right, one in the back middle.” Levi threw his arm out and pointed to the desks he wanted. He saw Eren walk into the room and step back a bit. Levi acknowledged him. “Your assignment is to write a five paragraph essay on sexuality. Go.”

Once they were situated, Levi told Eren to come in. “Did I interrupt something?” He asked, and looked around at the kids. He set two salads down on Levi’s desk and pulled over a chair.

“No, you’re fine. You changed the bed, right?”

“Oh my God. Yes, Mom, I did.”

The two of them opened their little containers of dressing in tandem, pouring the dressing over their salads in time, too; at least they had different ways of mixing: Eren not even bothering and Levi closing the lid to shake it. He looked at the three students to make sure they were doing their work. They were looking at him and Eren incredulously. He continued to stare at them while he shook his salad. “Get cracking. Lunch is only forty-five minutes, and I want a full outline.”

“Jesus, I’m happy I didn’t have you as a teacher.” Eren looked shocked, but he laughed. He stirred his lettuce around and shoved some in his mouth.

“It’s illegal to date students anyway.” Levi shrugged and eyed the kids behind Eren. They were working surprisingly diligently, probably out of fear. “So, one of them will be joining us for the next month.”

Eren choked and coughed. “Month?! What did they do?”

“I started my Sex Ed chapters. The one called me a fag.”

“I can understand a couple of days, maybe even a week. But a month, Levi? That’s pushing it.”

Levi grabbed his bowl of salad and leaned back in his chair. He yelled to his students to cover their ears, and when they did, he countered Eren’s argument. “You know what I was going to do tonight?”

Eren sighed and rolled his eyes. “What were you going to do tonight?”

“I was going to bring you home, suck your cock nice and slow, until you were begging me to let you come. But since you sided with our friends over there, I don’t think I will.”

Eren’s expression ran from shock to offense, then to embarrassed and appalled. He sat straighter and struggled to find something to say while Levi waved at his students and continued to eat his food. He did smile at Eren, and the kid turned beet red. He covered his face and sighed. “I.”

“What do you want for dinner tonight?”

“Levi—“

“And don’t forget, we’re meeting Erwin for lunch on Saturday.”

 

* * *

 

Eren was obviously nervous. Levi could read it in the way he sat, how his leg bounced up and down, how his feet would tap the floor, and even in how Eren looked around. Sometimes he would scratch his head and look at Levi, maybe for some reassurance. They were in a coffee shop waiting on Erwin; and while Eren was sat with a stick up his ass, Levi was reclined with an arm over the back of the chair.

“You’re meeting a friend, not my mother.” Levi quipped, and sipped his drink. Eren pouted and didn’t say anything back. They sat quietly until Eren saw a car pull into the lot, and a tall blond man climb out.

“Is that him?”

Levi looked around Eren and nodded. “Jesus. Huge.”

“He’s not as intimidating as he looks, trust me.” Levi rolled his eyes. He did make eye contact with Erwin; they nodded at each other. He walked into the shop a minute later, smiling. Levi whispered to Eren, “See? He won’t bite.”

“I’m sorry I’m late.” Erwin pulled a chair out and sat down. His hair was a little messed up, so he smoothed it down and smiled again, more apologetically. “A little brisk out there today.”

“It is October.”

Erwin, still smiling, sighed and blinked a couple of times. He turned his attention over to Eren. “Is he always this smart around you?” Eren was frozen before replying.

“Well, I mean. Yeah. Yes.” Eren looked from Erwin to Levi. Levi’s glare was like daggers. Eren turned red and focused his attention on the table. Erwin acknowledged his embarrassment and sent a glance towards Levi.

“I’m going to get something to drink.” Levi and Eren were left alone. Levi took full advantage.  

“You’re such a little shit.”

“I’m sorry!”

“You’re gonna need to make up for it.”

Eren quickly looked at Erwin, and then to Levi. “Look. Tonight, okay, when we’re home and I’m not so nervous, I’ll make it up to you.” Eren looked desperate, so Levi decided to entertain it.

“What do I get?”

Eren grimaced, looked away, then at Erwin, and back to Levi. He rubbed his face, leaned in a little closer, and whispered, “I’ll make you come.”

It was tempting. And, not to mention, a fairly scandalous to say in public, though Eren would argue that Levi’s stunt the other day was worse. He hesitated, and Eren continued. “You’ll see stars.”

Why not. Before he could answer though, Erwin returned. “So, Eren. Levi’s told me that you’ve been having weird dreams lately?” It wasn’t the only thing Levi mentioned. He brought up how horny the fucker was, and how Eren had masturbated in his bed. And, maybe, that Levi thought Eren was adorable, especially around dogs.

Eren’s reaction was the same as Hanji’s: Eren was extremely energetic. “Yeah. Though Levi over there seems to think it’s because of too much television.” Eren lightheartedly stuck his tongue out at Levi, who continued to glare in his general direction. “I’m not entirely sure how to explain it.”

Erwin was very amused by their playfulness. “Well, try.”

Eren ran his hand over his mouth and shrugged. “It’s like we lived in a totally different world. We killed these giant humans that tried to eat us. And a lot of my friends died.”

Erwin raised his eyebrows and turned to Levi. “That’s very interesting, Eren. What do you think?” The last question was an attempt to bring Levi into the conversation. It didn’t work too well.

“I think he watches too much television.”

“You don’t think there’s anything else to it?”

“No.”

Both Eren and Erwin sighed in unison and rolled their eyes. They were both continually amazed at how stubborn Levi could be sometimes. Conversation was fairly scarce after that, talking mostly about their jobs and families.

About an hour later was when Erwin dismissed himself, claiming he and Hanji had plans. Eren and Levi made their leave as well driving fairly silently back to the apartment. When Levi was unlocking the door, Eren pushed him up against it. “I did say I would make you come.” It was amazing how he could go from shy baby to assertive in two seconds flat.

Levi felt Eren’s mouth on his neck. He tried to look around for any creepy bystanders, and saw none. While that was relieving, there was no real reason to reprimand him; Levi just grinded his hips back into Eren. Levi opened the door and they both tumbled inside, onto the floor.

Eren thrust his hips down as if he were thrusting into Levi. He licked and bit his lips, and swooped down to nibble on Levi’s. “Now, I want you to go to bed and wait for me, okay? Lie down and wait for me.”

He didn’t know why he did it. But as soon as Eren had both of shoes off, Levi was walking to the bedroom and sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting. It was mindless; he sighed and laid back. It would probably be worth it. Hopefully.

Levi also didn’t understand the transition from being alone on the bed, to being pushed from the edge more towards the center. He didn’t hear Eren at all, just felt his weight fall onto his and shove him around. And, if there’s one thing Levi’s learned about Eren, it’s how eager he is. Eager to please, eager to kiss and touch, eager to take their pants off—

“Where the fuck did my pants go?” Levi shoved Eren off his chest and pushed himself onto his elbows. His pants were gone, he had his boxers on though, and Eren peered at his half hard cock.

“They’re on the floor.” He muttered, and mouthed at Levi’s dick. He stirred his hips for more friction, but Eren pushed them back down, smiling. “I’ll get to it, calm down.”

Eren’s smile was devious, and Levi had no idea what he was in for. This is going to be an interesting experience. While his boxers were being pulled down, Levi ran a hand through Eren’s hair; Eren appeared to appreciate it, and almost purred, before taking Levi’s dick into his mouth. He bobbed his head a couple of times and situated himself, lying down, between Levi’s legs.

Eren licked and sucked at the head of Levi’s cock. Levi let out a heavy sigh and opened his mouth; Eren took advantage of it and prodded a couple of fingers at his lips, which he so graciously sucked on. Levi looked down and saw Eren nuzzling his pubic hair; he bucked his hips slightly when Eren blinked at him through his eyelashes.

God damn it. What a sight.

Eren pulled back up with a smile and sat back on his knees. Levi watched him admire the spit on his fingers before smirking and grabbing his hips and flipping him over. “I hope you don’t expect to fuck me.” Levi drawled, and let Eren pull his ass up. There wasn’t a reply, but Levi felt Eren squeeze his ass cheeks and run his thumb over his asshole. There was a second where he didn’t feel anything, then felt a different finger push against him. He hissed as Eren pushed a digit into him and crooked his finger around.

“Nah.” Eren said, and Levi felt like he was being observed. “I just want to play.”

The pad of Eren’s finger brushed against Levi’s prostate when he spoke, and Levi gasped and reared back. He heard Eren snigger and did it a couple more times, until Levi’s hands had found the pillows in front of his face. He felt Eren’s hand wrap around his dick and start to stroke it; Levi was a little more than overwhelmed at the sensation of being finger fucked, and was lost in the sounds of his own little gasps.

Before long, Eren let go of Levi’s cock and pulled his finger out. A second later, Levi felt Eren’s tongue swipe across his ass and his asshole. He arched his back and rutted against Eren’s tongue, and Levi thought he heard himself mewl. Eren left Levi’s ass alone and pushed his legs apart a little more, licking at his balls and the base of his dick.

Eren said Levi was going to see stars when he came. At the time, Levi didn’t believe it. Now he did, with Eren’s tongue darting in and around his ass, a hand wrapped around his cock, and half strangled moans that vaguely resembled Eren’s name. He rutted his hips, pulled at the sheets, and groaned. “Eren, shit, Eren— fuck—“

Levi may or may not have blacked out for a second, because he definitely doesn’t remember rolling over onto his back. He blinked his eyes open a couple of times and saw Eren kneeling over him, licking cum off of his hand. His smile struck a knife through Levi’s heart; he was actually angry at how charming he could be. Even with sucking Levi’s seed from his hand, Eren was eye candy.

His shirt was off and his pants were unbuttoned, to top it off. “If you expect me to do _anything,_ you’re sorely mistaken.” It was a purr, and Levi stretched to exaggerate his exhaustion. Eren’s expression didn’t change, but he began to pull down his jeans and shorts.

“You don’t have to worry about anything.” He said, and palmed his own dick. “You just get to watch.”

Levi laid back and watched Eren bring out his own cock and stroke it gently. He licked the palm of his hand and started to fist himself again, slowly, and then working up to a quick pace. Eren was breathing heavily, and his eyes were half lidded as he let his head fall back, but never broke eye contact with Levi. He slowed down again and started to thrust into his fist.

Eren accentuated the movements into his hand. “I bet your mouth would look so pretty around my cock.” He breathed, and sent one sharp thrust up. Levi’s mouth twitched and he smirked, arching up a bit. This was a nice view of the boy.

Levi watched Eren let go of his dick and massage his balls. “Any little hole of yours would look pretty wrapped around me. Don’t you think?” Levi never would have pegged Eren for a dirty talker when they first met, especially not a dominant one. It was a turn on nonetheless, and it was hard not to respond in some way. That time, Levi arched again and opened his legs a little.  

Levi watched Eren go back to jerking his dick; both of them licked their lips, and Eren ran a hand over his chest, playing with one of his nipples. His breathing picked up, as well as his hand, and he started to moan. Levi took it all in: Eren’s stomach tightening, his balls rise, and the little movements his hips made. Eren shouted and shot a stream of cum over Levi’s chest.

Eren milked his dick for a second more before leaning over Levi and kissing him. “I’ll get a towel.”

Surprisingly, Levi didn’t mind the cum on him too much. Now that he thought about it, if Eren wiped it up with his fingers and presented to him, he’d probably clean it up that way. Not to give Eren any ideas; he actually might take him up on that.

When he came back, Eren crawled onto the bed and straddled Levi, carefully wiping up his mess and throwing the towel towards the hamper. He stared at it for a second before looking back and smiling down, sliding so that he was lying to the side of Levi.

“Made you come.” He taunted, and settled down for the rest of the afternoon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit i   
> wow   
> a month i think it's been wow ok 
> 
> Life got in the way, more so work and finals. I'm on break for the next month though, so there should be more up ahead! Pretty okay with this one. This is a nice chapter, considering no one is going to like the next. uwu   
> Tumblr? For the holidays my URL is shingekinosnowmen.   
> I have a tag! fic: puplove. I post things in there sometimes!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weird dreams, cranky Eren, a dash of emotional turmoil, and a metric ton of semicolons.

Eren told Levi that the amount of nights they were spending together was becoming a problem. Eren’s parents didn’t mind Levi at all, it was just Eren spent a week at his apartment. And only came home for clean clothes. Which were left at Levi’s apartment, coincidentally.

Eren was scared to tell Levi that he couldn’t stay; it was obvious from the way he tucked his head and folded his hands together. It wasn’t a problem, truly, Levi had no problem with Eren being home more often. Well, he did. But it was too early for them to move in together, and there wasn’t any other choice. They could stay out late together, just so long as Eren was home for the night. Longer as in one in the morning, instead of four or five.

On one of the days he was allowed a later curfew, Eren had gone out to lunch with Erwin. It was a Saturday, leaving Levi home with his thoughts. He walked around his apartment in various states of undress, assuming that Eren would be back to catch him shirtless or pants-less.

He didn’t. He wasn’t home at all— _Home._

That was one of the things Levi thought about. He’s known Eren for a couple of months now, not very long at all, but he feels so welcome. His apartment doesn’t feel so empty, and it almost kind of aches to wake up alone. His disposition has changed, however slightly, and he’s sure the same has happened to Eren. It was as if he _has_ known Eren, like Erwin asked. To put it simply, the entire thing was _nice,_ and he never wanted it to change.

Sometime in the later afternoon Levi laid down in his bed for a nap. Sleep didn’t come quickly but he stayed there anyway and eventually drifted off. His dream was vivid, almost as if he were living it, and terrifying.

Levi woke up in a bed that wasn’t his. It was dark, damp, and he heard the dripping of water. His head hurt, and he was confused of his surroundings. He pushed himself up onto one hand, rubbed his face with the other, and looked around. There were bars, and an arm slung over his waist. Upon further inspection, he saw it was Eren’s arm, or. It looked like Eren, except much younger, seventeen or eighteen maybe. From there he observed their garb, white pants and they both wore white button down shirts. This Eren grumbled and rubbed his eyes, then looked up at Levi and smiled. He looked so sweet, and it made Levi’s heart cave in a little; he brushed Eren’s hair out of his face and smiled back.

“Move, brat.” He spoke without even thinking. It was weird. Since Levi was closest to the wall, he had to kick Eren up so he could stand. He just sat up, and Levi crawled around him, hopping off the bed and looking around. It was dark, with only a lantern on the other side of the hallway for light, and it smelled. It was a wonder how this Eren slept here every night, behind these bars. Levi couldn’t understand.

“It’s because you sleep here with me.” It was almost as if he knew what was going through Levi’s mind. Were they that close? He had no idea. Eren had his face in his hands, wiping the sleep away. He looked up at Levi and grinned bitterly, before it turned into a total grimace. Eren surveyed his surroundings, then glanced back up at his superior. He shrugged and stood, stretched and shook out his legs, then popped his neck. “In case you were wondering.”

Levi _tch-ed_ and opened the iron bar door. He was shocked at how heavy it was. He sauntered down the hall, a little dizzy and leaned on one of the walls. He hung his head, and when he looked back up, Erwin was there. He was the same, right down to the crinkles in his eyes when he smiled. Except, maybe a little more… He didn’t know. There was something different about the Erwin he knew versus this Erwin. Levi didn’t like it, it was unsettling.

“I assumed I would find you here, all things considered.” The fuck? Rude. Levi glared at him, and he laughed. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you that I’d like to you see later. We have things to discuss.” Erwin didn’t give Levi much of a chance to reply besides patting his head. He directed his smile behind Levi, assumedly to Eren, and turned around to leave. “No rush.”

When Erwin was out of earshot and eyeshot, Eren crept up and hugged Levi from behind. “What’s on the agenda, Corporal?” Eren’s voice was slightly high, higher than Other Eren, but it still had the sultry tone that Levi loved. So he played into it, physically anyway: he pushed his ass back and chuckled, smirking, moving Eren’s hand down to cover his crotch.

It was only a moment though, because when Eren started to tighten his hold, Levi broke free of it. “Today we have a meeting with Erwin. And maybe a little training.” He has this odd déjà vu feeling that they’ve lived this before. Levi couldn’t control his movements or words, it just happened, and he went with it as if it were a first person movie. So he rounded the corner and walked up the stairs, presumably to his own quarters, not looking back to make sure Eren was following. He knew the kid would.

They walked about maybe three flights up stairs before Levi lost track and just walked. After another long hallway, he stopped at one door and opened it, revealing a fair-sized office that connected to a washroom. Levi was impressed, this was better than his apartment back in consciousness, and peered around. There was a window behind the desk that let in a wonderful amount of light.

“Corporal, is it okay if I use your washtub?” Levi nodded and closed the door behind him. Eren padded over to the bathroom and closed the door a little bit. “The water’s still warm, cool.”

The room was set up funny, but it used the space well. There was that window, and from there was the desk. Were Levi to stand behind it, the left hand wall would have a bookcase, and next to the bookcase was a bed.  It wasn’t big, maybe a twin size, but it would be big enough for him and Eren. In the center of the room there was carpet with an elaborate design in all sorts of colors, and on the other side was the door to the bathroom.

The door to the office itself, on the back of it, was a mirror and hanging on it was a lump of leather straps. Levi wasn’t sure if that’s the bondage gear he and this Eren used, or if it was a part of his strange uniform. “Eren?”

He walked a little closer to the bathroom and stopped. Eren opened the door a little bit and, if Levi had doubts about this person being who they appear to be, those were washed away, because that was _definitely_ Eren, judging by his cock. Levi was caught staring; Eren turned red before looking amused. “Yes, sir?”

Levi’s brain stuttered. He opened his mouth and it took a second for words to come out. “When you’re done, help me with those.” He assumed that if Eren was calling him corporal and sir, that he held a higher position in this military, and could freely ask for help with things without being questioned. That was a comfort. Eren nodded and wiped a hand over his chest.

“You know, Levi, you could join me. When was the last time you bathed?” Oh, God. Levi tried his hardest not to blanch. _They don’t have regular showers? How do I stay clean?_ Eren turned so he was fully exposed and extremely inviting. Levi couldn’t resist if he tried, so he stripped on his way to the tub. A little bath wouldn’t hurt, and something else might be involved.

The washtub was a simple, kind of large, round metal basin full of water. Levi assumed that warm water was brought up from somewhere every morning, if that, along with soap and a sponge. Eren backed up a couple of inches so Levi could put his foot in the water to test the temperature. It was kind of warm, and very soapy. Eren was very soapy, and made a show about rinsing himself off when he picked up on Levi looking at him. He cracked a smile and made sure to shake his head of the water gently. Eren bent to soak up some more water with the sponge and squeezed it over Levi’s head. It made him shiver, so he moved closer to Eren. “Are you cold, sir? Could I help warm you up?”

“This tub is small enough as it is.” It didn’t really answer Eren’s question, but it was affirmation enough. Eren hugged him closer and scrubbed the sponge over his chest. Levi felt his breath against his neck and teeth on his ear. Eren didn’t do much other than that, little teasing things as he washed, he pushed his superior back to mind his work. Levi was not amused, but Eren gave a little smile anyway and stepped out to grab two towels.

Levi shivered; the water had gotten fairly cold. He bent over to pick up the sponge so he could wring it out, and when he was stood upright, Eren draped a towel over his shoulders. It was so warm, and it felt so big he could swim in it. Eren helped him step over the edge and rubbed him down. Levi really appreciated the attention, and Eren didn’t mind giving it. He smiled as Eren furiously rubbed it over his hair and laughed, and loved it even more when Eren wrapped the towel around his waist and kneaded his shoulders.

When his hair was appropriately fluffed, Levi walked back into his office to dress. Eren followed him, shaking his hair like a dog, and unwrapped the towel from around his waist. “You wanted me to help with your straps?”

“Yeah.” They were mostly clothed, Eren had his shirt and pants on, and Levi was just buttoning his. He walked over to where it was hanging and held one strap between his fingers, trying to figure out how it worked. This place was so strange; it was so vivid, almost like he lived it before.

Eren tapped his shoulder out of the way and Levi studied him as he pulled the straps from the hanger. He was still fairly young, younger than the other one, but he was growing into his muscles and height. Still not too much taller than Levi, maybe another head taller, and deceptively strong. This memory wasn’t his, it was a dream, but he couldn’t help but think about the first time Eren picked him up and carried him. Seemingly a string bean, but held him just fine all the same.

Eren was watching him stare absentmindedly at the floor. “Are you okay, sir?”

Well. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Here. Hold your arms out.” Eren placed Levi’s arms through the first set of straps like a coat, stepping around to buckle it on his chest.

These things looked complicated as hell, and Levi thanked his stars that he didn’t need to know it. Eren was pulling straps and adjusting the ones on his shoulders when Levi noticed he was being watched via the mirror. They stared at each other through their reflections; Eren wrapped his arms around Levi’s waist and rested his head against his shoulder. They were both silent for a while, just studying each other.

“I told you that I loved you once. Do you remember, Corporal?” Eren’s voice was quiet and the only way Levi could hear it was because the boy’s mouth was so close to his ear. Levi shook his head, how was he supposed to remember? This wasn’t real. He chanted that to himself in his head. It isn’t real.

“I don’t, Eren.”

“Let me tell you, then.” Eren tightened his grip. They stared at each other in the mirror; Eren’s gaze so intent it made Levi still with unease. “It was maybe around this time last year. I had you cornered in a hallway while everyone was eating. You were leading me here for some reason, I don’t remember why; we had an argument or something. I yelled, ‘I love you, Levi!’ and you just looked at me.”

Levi kept his mouth shut. The entire mood was somber, right down to Eren’s tone. He didn’t even want to breathe, much less hear what happened next. “You called me a brat. An ignorant brat, and told me that I didn’t know what love is.”

Eren looked sad. His eyes fell from Levi’s reflection in the mirror to the floor. Levi sucked in a sharp intake of air and placed his hands over Eren’s. “I’ve thought about it since then. You know what I came up with? If I had to choose between humanity and you, I’d choose you. I think that’s what love means right now. And if we ever get out of this mess, I’d still pick you over everything else.”

He wanted to vomit. The way Eren looked, and looked at him, made him sick. Levi didn’t realize that the tips of his fingers were pressing into Eren’s hands until they were cold. The urge to say, _“I love you, Eren.”_ boiled at the back of his throat. He sighed instead, and looked at Eren out of the corner of his eye.

Instead, he said, “How long have we been doing this, now?” and wiggled his way out of Eren’s grasp. He walked over to the desk and leaned on it, leaving Eren by the mirror.

“A couple of years.”

A couple of years. Levi didn’t know how to handle it. Does he reason with Eren, confess his love, or lie about it? He did care about Eren. He could feel this self overflow with worry, affection, and cherish the boy, spreading from the center of his chest through his arms. How do you say that to a seventeen year old boy? More importantly, how does Levi admit that to himself?

Eren sighed. He gave an apologetic smile, seemingly giving up on Levi’s hesitation. “I really just. I don’t know.”

Levi opened his mouth, ready to give some reasoning. It was stupid to value one person over the entire population. The way Eren spoke, he would sacrifice everything for Levi and with the kind of world they lived in, they couldn’t. Eren interrupted him loudly with, “I don’t fucking-! It’s been two fucking years, Levi! You haven’t, you’ve been so distant, you’ve been taking my dick up your ass for a year and a half, and you can’t-. You can’t say anything, and-” Eren’s voice dropped low, but picked up to a normal volume. His eyes looked glassy, and he lifted his hands up only to drop them again. “And you shut me down when I do.”

Levi knew himself when he was awake, he didn’t know how to react now. Eren wiped a hand over his face. “You have a meeting with Erwin.”

That could wait. Erwin said that there was no rush. Oh, God. What the hell. “You’re upset, more than you let on.” Levi left leaning on the desk for walking towards and standing in front of Eren. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to change. But don’t put me above the cause.”

Eren sneered at him and turned his head away. “Sorry. Yeah.”

That hurt. Levi sighed and let his facial expression convey how upset he was. Eren looked back at him sadly and sighed himself. “Just. Please treat me like an adult.”

“Okay.”

The mechanics of dreams are weird; Levi couldn’t remember or imagine the transition from his quarters to Erwin’s. Hanji was with him, and Eren was left outside. Erwin had finished explaining something about Wall Maria and Shingansina. “We’ve been requested back.”

“Back?” Hanji said. She scratched the top of her head and furrowed her eyebrows. “We were just there.”

Erwin nodded once in agreement. “I know. But the Military Police—“

“More like Bitch Brigade.” Levi interjected, and innocently sipped his tea.

Annoyed, Erwin continued. “Commander Dawk wants to try a fairly haphazard strategy of reclaiming Wall Maria. It involves baiting, and insists on our best soldiers to do the job.”

So basically Levi and Hanji’s squad.“That is stupid.” Levi and Hanji blurted at the same time.

“We leave tomorrow.”

Levi was happy nothing had changed between him and Hanji. They were still on the same wavelength. “Huh? You just said it was stupid. Why are we going?” She questioned him ruthlessly while Levi tuned her out. Something was different about her, too. Must be the times, and he still couldn’t place the changes, but there was something off about everyone he came in contact with.

“Hanji, please. We leave tomorrow afternoon, tonight we’ll have a meeting with everyone, and go over the plan. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an attack to strategize.” Erwin bowed his head and looked at his associates through his eyelashes, mentally insisting they leave. Levi and Hanji made eye contact before standing and walking out the door. Eren was sitting on the other side of the hallway, waiting eagerly.

“So?” He asked, and hopped up to follow his superiors. Hanji grimaced; she wasn’t sure how to say they were going back. Levi took the responsibility for her.

“We ride to Maria tomorrow. We’re going to reclaim the area.”

There was another blur in happenings, but he saw vaguely a bowl of food, Eren and his friends, and horses. He heard them, too, the clattering of silverware, Eren’s laughter, hooves on the ground. When everything stopped whirring, Levi felt something else; he shivered and heard the sound of Eren’s moan. _“We aren’t going to die tomorrow.”_

_“We don’t know that.”_

He saw himself flying through the air with Eren by his side, encountering a titan every now and then. They worked brilliantly as a team, Levi’s entire squad did. He was proud of it. This was the first wave of the plan Erwin had devised, and they were meant to meet him and Hanji on some part of the wall for further instructions. All Levi had to do was point at a spot in the wall, then he and his team were swinging that way. Levi and Eren has gotten behind of the rest of the group; they saw Mikasa and Armin, along with everyone else, headed along the wall towards Erwin. When they has reached the wall, Levi landed like a cat while Eren hit the ground like a rock.

“You’re going to hurt your lower body if you keep landing like that.” It wasn’t an uncommon thing for Levi to say. Eren always rolled his eyes and made some smart remark.

“Right, okay. At least I don’t land like some fairy prince.” Like that, for example. Eren went running almost as soon as he said it, hauling ass while Levi chased after him. When he slowed down, Eren crouched over for air, leaving him open for numerous smacks and kicks from Levi. Eren couldn’t stop laughing, and even fell over at one point. “All right, alright! I submit!”

“Brat.” Levi had one foot poised to kick Eren right in the chin, but he set it down and walked away.

“I love you!” Eren called. He jogged to catch up; they walked together the rest of the way, bumping into each other every now and then, occasionally wrapping their pinky finger around the other’s. This was one of those moments where Levi felt disgustingly cute, and had an out-of-body feeling. Something didn’t feel right, through the gross couple-mush, something felt wrong.

“All things aside, today is beautiful, don’t you think?” Erwin and Hanji were almost within eyeshot, and before they were in earshot, Eren grabbed Levi by the shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. He didn’t always mind the affection, but with his superiors within seeing distance, the gesture was unprofessional. Although, it was something that Hanji would likely use against him in the future.

Levi peeked through the crook in Eren’s arm over the city. There where titans everywhere, houses were destroyed, and people were dying. Beautiful was one word. “Nice, at least.” Levi agreed anyway and pushed Eren away. All they were told was to eradicate the titans in one corner of Shingansina. There were three as far as they knew, but nothing Humanity’s Strongest couldn’t handle. Levi hated the way Erwin used it; the term was an unpleasant reminder of the responsibility he carried. He fulfilled his duty anyway. That’s what counted.

Eren and Levi made quick work of the titans in the area Erwin pointed to. They stood on a rooftop and watched others walk about. “Thank you for treating me like an adult.”

“Like you said, you make me take it up the ass, so I might as well.”

“Yeah, well. Still.” Neither of them heard or saw the ten meter class peer up from under the awning of the roof. Eren wasn’t prepared when it grabbed Levi by the legs and held him in the air. He yelled nonetheless, a strangled cry of Levi’s name and flew to cut off the thing’s hand, but not before it held them in the air and took one bite out of Levi’s legs.

Levi heard one last cry before he woke, having sweat through his clothes and sheets. It was dark; the only thing he could see was his bedroom door, closed, and heard the sound of his own breathing.

His bedroom door was closed. It was open when he fell asleep.

Eren?

Levi threw the covers over him and heard a small squeak. Ana was under there, and didn’t appreciate the surprise. He apologized quietly and tiptoed out into the hallway, pausing for a second to make sure he wasn’t hearing things. His breathing, a floorboard creak, and a television were the only sounds he heard. It had to have been Eren.

He rounded the corner of the hallway and saw half an arm slung over the back of the couch. Yeah, Eren. There was no other slob quite like that one. He padded a little further, grabbed Eren’s hand, effectively startling him. “Jesus,” he muttered, and laughed. “Scared the shit out of me. How are you feeling?”

Eren sat up and rested his chin on the back of the couch. Levi shrugged and walked around, settling himself between Eren’s legs, on his back. They had settled down like that before Eren insisted he get a blanket for them. “You’re so cold, come here, get up, and let me get something.” It was endearing to watch the brat dote over him like a child. Levi appreciated it as much as having a towel mercilessly rubbed over his head.

When they were settled again, underneath a huge comforter with Eren’s heat, Levi fell soundly asleep. He woke up the next morning still on the couch, but buried underneath his blanket alone. He heard Eren talking, so he moved the fabric away from his face a little bit to peer around. Eren was fiddling with the teapot on the stove.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, but when I got back he was burning up. I wanted to keep an eye on him.” He was on the phone apparently, but Levi wasn’t sure with whom. While the other person talked, Eren nodded and made small noises of agreement while he switched on the flame. “I don’t know. He’s still asleep, but he wouldn’t talk to me last night. When I woke up he still felt warm, but we were lying together so.”

Another pause. “No, he was sleeping in bed when I got back, so I wrapped him up and closed the door so I wouldn’t wake him up. It was about two or three when he stumbled into the living room.” Eren looked over at him, so Levi pretended to be asleep again. He shut his eyes and focused on keeping his breathing even. “Haha, yeah. Like a cat basically. I had to get up and get a blanket, which I don’t think he was too happy about.”

“Yeah. Needs the rest. And some food, should feed him soup. Is there any at home?” It was either his mother or his sister, Levi deduced, and continued to listen. “Shit. No. I’m heating up water for tea but. He needs to eat; I don’t know when the last time he had any food.”

Eren sighed and leaned back against the adjacent counter. “I don’t want to leave, but I might need to.” His back straightened out at whatever the person on the other end had to say. “Oh, yeah, there is one nearby. It’s not too far either, probably wouldn’t take long. Should I wake up him up though?” He nodded. “Okay. Thanks Mom. See you soon.”

Levi watched Eren run a hand through his hair and shove his phone into his pocket. He muttered something and walked over to the couch; Levi pretended to be asleep again. A hand ruffled through his hair and he felt Eren’s lips brush his forehead. “Hey. You awake a little?”

Still pretending, Levi sighed and fluttered his eyelids. He saw Eren smile. “I’m gonna run and get you some soup, alright? I won’t be too long. Take it easy while I’m out.” Levi closed his eyes again, appearing to be drowsy, and vaguely heard the lock of the door. He listened to his own breathing and snuggled further under the comforter. He didn’t think he fell asleep, but after what felt like a few minutes, he heard Eren walk through the door again.

He heard Eren’s footfalls walk past the couch and into the kitchen, setting a paper bag down on the table. “Levi?” He called, and wandered over, sitting on the coffee table. “Hey.”

Eren peeled the comfortable back to reveal a glaring, slightly irritated, Levi. He laughed and brushed a hand through Levi’s hair. “How are you feeling? Are you hungry? It’s almost two. You’ve been asleep for a while; it’s time you sit up.”

What was he, his mother? Levi narrowed his eyes a little more. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to go anywhere besides stay under a pile of blankets forever. If he left his nest, something might eat him. More specifically, a giant humanoid thing might eat his legs from under the couch. There are other risks Levi was more willing to take, like laying down. Forever.

Eren exasperatedly pulled the blanket right off. “Sit up. Come on. You can stay there, but sit up.”

Levi did, however reluctantly, and Eren placed the comforter back over him, adjusting it so that it covered everything but his face. When it was suitably placed, Eren retrieved the paper bag and a spoon. He set it down on the coffee table and pulled a small cup out, and a piece of bread wrapped in paper. “Panera. Erwin said you liked it.”

Since when were they friends? Eren was terrified of the man the last Levi knew. He took it anyway, uncapped the cup and unwrapped the paper, dunking the bread in the soup. “Are you going to talk to me at all?” Eren was slightly worried, if not slightly offended, and sounded as such. Levi looked at him as he munched on bread. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk, just. He didn’t want to talk. There’s a difference.

He swallowed and opened his mouth for a second, before shutting it. He tried again, more successfully: “I don’t have anything to say.” He croaked, and sipped his soup. Eren blinked at him once, twice.

“You always have something to say.”

Levi shrugged. He decided to be honest. “I just had a bad dream. Rather be quiet is all.”

Eren shifted uncomfortably, again seated on the coffee table. “Well. Alright. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

It was the way the dream felt that kept Levi so quiet. It had that dumb all-too-real feeling, and its aftershocks were worse. Maybe twelve hours later and he was still quiet, legs kind of shaky, still paranoid about something crawling up and eating him whole. He would peek up at Eren every now and then, through his eyelashes, and see the boy glancing towards him. He was worried, obviously, and as nice as it was to be doted on, it was suffocating. Maybe if he slept another few days, he would feel better.

“Are you going to school tomorrow?”

Levi blinked a few times and looked up. Yeah, work. That was a thing. “If you aren’t feeling well tomorrow morning you could take off.”

He couldn’t. Too bad, so sad. “Can’t.”

Eren shut his eyes for a moment. “Fine. ‘Kay.”  He stood and walked past the couch, presumably to the kitchen, until Levi heard Eren’s feet keep going. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Happy Holidays! And if you don't celebrate anything, I hope you're having a nice night.   
> So chapter six sucked to write and edit. But it is my favorite so far. 
> 
> It's. Yeah. I dunno man. I don't have much else to say.
> 
> Tumblr? shingekinosnowmen   
> And a tag, woo! fic: puplove. I post in it sometimes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff. And some more stuff. My computer's default language is Deutsch now and it's telling me all the words I'm typing are wrong.

“Trouble in paradise, eh? Shame. It only just started.” Hanji sighed, threw her dishrag on the counter and leaned against it. Being an early evening on a Wednesday, the bar was fairly empty; the music was still loud, though, and disrupted Levi’s train of thought. That was exactly what he needed; wanted, more like.

“Not sure. Probably.” He was still just plugging along, trying to get through his work and such, forgetting more and more about his dream. Nightmare, dream, whatever you call it. There were none of those since the last one, and he felt it time to tell someone about it. How fitting he chose his best friend, a bartender, while she works. Almost ironic.

“In any case.” Hanji pursed her lips. “That’s weird. Didn’t Eren have a similar dream?”

Levi’s brain stopped working for a second. He stopped twirling his glass, let his eyes grow wide, and let his gaze fall down to the floor. Eren did have a similar dream. And Levi passed it off as too much television. He furrowed his eyebrows. That explains it. That explains everything. Since Eren told him about his dream, it influenced his. Yeah.

“Yeah, he did. Eren told me about it.”

“And?”

“And, that’s why I had the same dream. Isn’t that how dreams work?”

“Something like that.” That probably wasn’t, but it was reassuring regardless.

What wasn’t reassuring was the dream he had that night. Levi was in a courtroom setting with Erwin and Hanji, looking at a _very_ young Eren scream. Within the next few seconds, he was over the railing and beating the shit out of Eren’s face, round housing his jaw and kneeing his chin. _“This just might be my opinion…”_ Levi stood straight and looked down on Eren like a dog. _“But when it comes to teaching somebody discipline, I believe pain is the most effective way.”_

Levi flew up in his bed, panting and sweating. He braced his hands on either side of him for support; he let out a slow, shuddering breath and when he calmed down, wiped a hand across his face. It was dark; he couldn’t really make out much, but heard the purr of Ana next to his foot. He felt queasy. There was light, cool sensation at the back of his throat and he got a chill right down his spine. Levi blinked a few times before realizing what the feeling was.

He threw the covers back and stumbled into the bathroom, collapsing to his knees on the floor in front of the toilet. He pushed the lid up and hurled what little he had to eat that day. Levi shuddered again and coughed-spit whatever attached itself to the inside of his mouth. He placed his cheek against the cool rim of the toilet and closed his eyes, half out of fatigue and half from not wanting to see what his stomach had to say.

After what felt like hours, he felt Ana’s paws against his calf. He pushed himself up a little bit to look at her and she mewed. With one last _guh_ Levi slapped a hand over the lever, closing the lid, and laid down on the floor. His head lolled, pulling his gaze with it towards the bedroom. Levi squinted at the clock, trying to make out the time. It looked like four AM, but he wasn’t sure. It was so cold. Where was Eren with soup and blankets when you needed it?

Another age and a half later, Levi finally rolled over, pushed himself up and tried to balance on his feet, with the sink for support.  His vision danced a little; he saw stars and decided leaning against the sink for a moment would be the best course of action. A few dizzying seconds later and he was off again, stumbling back towards the bed and collapsing onto it.

He fell back asleep and had another, more merciful dream. Eren was older, presumably, by a couple of years. His shoulders were broader and his hips displayed a little wiggle when he walked. In his dream, Levi had the best view of Eren’s ass as he walked over to his desk, grabbed something phallic in shape, and brought it back over with him. Levi noticed his position then: on his stomach, hands tied above him, ass on display. How nice.

Before anything nice could actually happen, Levi woke with a start. The clock said 5:00 AM in bright red, blinking light. And his dick was harder than a rock.

Levi sighed. He lay still for a moment longer before swinging his legs off the side, effectively pulling himself with them in a lazy slide. While on the floor, he tried to plot out his next plan. Shower, tea? Tea, then shower and masturbate? Might as well.

He opted for shower first. Getting up was an ugly struggle, starting with his hands out in front of him and pushing his ass up first. Before standing completely, Levi was in an unappealing squatting position. What cute comments Eren would make if he saw. He saw the tent in his sweatpants. That would have received some comments as well.

Levi took his time showering, fiddling with the dials for the perfect temperature, washing and conditioning his hair, scrubbing his body once, twice, three times before just standing and letting the water cascade over him. The amount of steam was glorious, and it made for wonderful distraction from the excitement downstairs. Even still, he turned around, let the water massage his shoulders and flow down his back while he took his dick in his hand and began to stroke.

It didn’t take him long to come. He would be lying if he didn’t think about his dream a little bit, too; his hands were tied, for sure, and that’s pretty much all he remembered. But the idea of Eren pulling his ass up, stretching him out and fucking him with a dildo made Levi’s hips stutter and turned his breathing ragged. The thought of Eren whispering in his ear, _“Good boy. Don’t be quiet, now. I want to hear every sound you have to make.”_ caused Levi to gasp, let out a broken moan, and spill over his hand.

It was a bad idea to masturbate. He was lightheaded to begin with, and almost slid down the shower wall. Levi made a mental note to never vomit and fuck himself within a twenty-four hour period.

He focused on slowing his breathing down and steadying his vision rather than moving. It worked after a moment or two, so he washed himself again and got out as best he could. Levi grabbed his towel from off of the cabinet and rubbed his head down, followed by his arms, torso, and legs. He remembered when Eren did it for him, and how carefully he wrapped the towel around his shoulders. How nice it is to be doted on like that.

Levi wrapped it around his waist and tucked the corner in so it would stay. He wiped his hand across the mirror so he could observe the damage vomiting did: his eyes were a little red, his face blotchy in areas, and there were some popped veins. Oh, well. Some make-up might help with his appearance.

But he doesn’t have anything. There’s a nice young man who lives down the hall who had concealer, though. They had a conversation about standards and gender roles one day. They were waiting on the elevator, both too lazy to climb the seven flights of stairs to their respective apartments.

No. He’s in college, and probably still asleep. It would be stupid to bother him.

You know what? Who the fuck even just talks about that kind of shit? They were waiting for the elevator and decided that, “Hey, how’s the weather?” wasn’t good enough so, “God damn those gender roles.” suited conversation better. How do you even decide that?

Through the thought process, Levi managed to meander into the kitchen and grab the teapot to boil water. His face was contorted into a grimace of mild disbelief. It was months ago, he hardly remembers the conversation itself, much less the boy’s name, but talk about absurd. What else was absurd was the lack of ginger tea in his pantry. He could have sworn it was on his shopping list since he hadn’t been feeling well. Maybe he’ll ask Eren to bring some in when they have lunch together.

Speaking of Eren, Levi vaguely remembered his phone going off last night, just before he fell asleep. Through the haze of alcohol, he made the executive decision to not reply, for fear of who it was and what he would say, and regretted not at least looking at who the message was from. After placing the pot on the stove and lighting it, Levi padded back into his room to check his phone. Even though he had been awake, the light was blinding. Turns out the message was from Eren: _“Cant wait to see you tomorrow for lunch. ;)”_

It was gross and cute. A disgusting in-between of “aw” and “gag me.” Levi’s reply was, _“Can’t wait to suck your dick when I bring you home tonight. <3” _He could envision it now. Eren, still groggy from sleep, waking up and checking his phone and seeing that text. Levi could hear the sound of Eren’s boner ripping through his pants. Good. Even though he was probably-more-than-likely-definitely-hungover, that text reminded him of who he was and that his day would be great.

What a strange mood he was in.

The morning flew by after that, partially because Eren was awake. Their texting continued well into the afternoon with playful banter. Levi’s favorite was the reply to his this morning: _“I’ll have you on your knees drinking up my cum. Does that sound good babe?”_

Yes, it did.

His students were still on their sex education courses. They were only about a week into it, and had successfully gone over sex in its entirety: safe sex, how it works, what it is, the reasoning behind it, and so on. Levi entertained the idea of giving them a quiz, but a comprehensive test at the end of the course would be enough. He trusted they knew what he was talking about.

But his classes were all in different places. One had finished sex, one had just started it, and another was discussing a different topic: sexuality. That was his favorite. It confused the kids so much. It was the perfect opportunity to teach them that everything they’d learned previously was wrong. The entire reason Levi became a teacher was for that reason. And maybe a little bit for making a difference.

Worksheets for this kind of discussion were hard to come by and even harder to make. Levi devised a very specific exercise for the class: whiteboard.

The Whiteboard Challenge, as it was nicknamed by his coworkers, was Levi’s way of introducing a topic without it being entirely awkward or stupid. When his class was settled, he grabbed his papers and walked from the podium up to the whiteboard, grabbed a marker, and drew two columns. “Alright. If anyone reads their syllabus, you can tell I totally disregarded it.”

Another good approach to introducing an awkward topic is to be as funny as possible. They laughed, and that’s what matters. Levi turned around and faced his students. “Because I hate teaching the same thing over and over each day, all the classes are in different places. You guys finished sex, and are now moving into sexuality.”

They were quiet. Presumably a good thing. “So here’s what we’re going to do. Your other teachers have called this the Whiteboard Challenge. It’s not a challenge at all. I’ve got a category up here.” Levi motioned behind him. “Sexuality. We won’t go around the room but I expect everyone to say something. Basically, anything that pops to mind. I’ll start with heterosexual. Now who has something else to say?”

One of his students said homosexual. “Alright, what’s a step from that?” He led them to bisexual, pan, asexual, and through gender binaries. He thought about one of his coworkers sneering at him for trying to teach a bunch of adolescents about such a complicated subject. Complicated, right. Never underestimate your students.

It proved to be a good exercise. Most of his students volunteered something, ranging from an addition to the categories to extending discussion. Levi checked the clock and saw there were five minutes left; he clapped his hands together to gather their attention. “This is great stuff. I’m glad. One last thing, though.” Levi grabbed the eraser and removed everything from the board. “Those are pretty broad. Everyone defines their sexuality differently. And it’s none of your business so deal with whatever they say. Got it?” One of his smartass kids slow clapped after a second. Levi snorted, rolled his eyes, and told them to leave. “Lesson’s over. Get out. See you tomorrow.”

He heard a snort, and saw his giant dork work his way into the classroom. “That was so sweet, Levi, wow. Extremely inspirational.” Eren was actually trying to walk in through the swarm of students leaving the classroom. You’d think he’d understand how hallway traffic works.

“Did you listen the entire time, Jeager?”

“Ouch, okay! We were having such lovely conversation this morning. Which kid shoved a stick up your ass?” Eren threw his hands up in defense and sat down in Levi’s desk chair. “Speaking of kids, where’re the ones you grounded last week?”

“Getting their lunch. They’ll be back.”  

“Super strict, aren’t you? Remind me to not piss you off.”

“You’re well on your way.”

He wasn’t offended at all, but it was funny to watch Eren tiptoe around his words. While Eren was stumbling for a response, Levi managed to walk over and lean against the side of his desk. Eren gave up on stammering, sighed, and closed his eyes. “You win.”

“Thank you.”

“So. Our texts.” Playing it smooth, it seems. “Your place tonight?” Eren licked his lips and eyed Levi up and down. Playing it real smooth.

It was so hard to say no to anything when Eren spoke in his low, bedroom voice. It was illegal to use in public because of the possible repercussions, but that brat obviously didn’t care. “Keep it up with the attitude, and there won’t be any place at all besides your own fist.”

“Cool. And by that I mean really lame.”

“You earned it.”

“None of your lame, old man come backs.”

That about did it for Levi. He leaned forward with the intention of threatening Eren, but before he could, his detention students walked in. When Levi opened his mouth, he heard his name called; Eren grinned. “Can I have the apartment key?”

Levi didn’t even answer. He glared at Eren instead and reached under his desk to pull out his briefcase. “Keys are in here. The apartment key has “APT” on it. Should be easy enough to find.”

Eren mimicked him in a high voice. “Keys are in here. The apartment key has ‘APT’ on it. I’m a huge asshole.” He reached his the briefcase and brought it up onto his lap to sift through it. Levi was already walking around his desk to instruct his students. “Four paragraphs on what you learned in class today. Go.”

He turned back around to see Eren standing by the doorway, poised to wave. He did, and Levi gave his middle finger in return. Eren grimaced, stuck out his tongue, and walked out. The three boys laughed quietly. One said, “How does he put up with you?”

As shitty as their comment was the previous week, it was hard to say there wasn’t a growing fondness, more tolerance for a little banter. It was an honest question, no good answer. “Who knows?” Levi said, and spun on his heel to stand behind his podium. There were papers he had collected he needed to read.

After he had clocked out and driven back to his apartment complex, briefcase and binders in tow, it had occurred to him that, wait, if Eren had the key, how was he going to get in? There was no way Eren was dumb enough to lock the door. But, then again, it was Eren.

Levi tried the knob anyway, and thankfully it was open. When he stepped into his apartment, it smelled fresh. Like clean, it smelled like clean. Eren was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a book. There was a pot on the stove, presumably boiling water, and the kettle for tea. Levi loved every part of that image. Now he just needed Eren to bottom for once, and they would fit the perfect stereotype. Toeing off his shoes and placing his briefcase by the door, Levi meandered over to Eren and kissed the top of his head. “I love when we play house.”

Eren groaned audibly and shooed Levi away. “Yeah, alright. See how often we do this, then.”

Levi stepped over to the stove and peered into the pot. “Pasta?”

“Yeah. Had a taste for alfredo.”

“Alfredo?”

“Fettuccini?”

Oh. “My mom used to make it all the time. I would help her, so it’s one of the three things I can actually cook well.” Oh.

Guess Levi was going to be “drinking up” Eren’s cum later. “How do you make it, then?”

Eren stood up and padded over to the fridge, pulling out the necessary ingredients. “Butter, heavy cream, and some spices. And crumbled parmesan cheese. It’s so good, Levi.” Eren let his head loll back and made a sound like he was going to orgasm. His mouth was contorted in a blissful smile. Eren placed all the ingredients on the back part of the stove, away from the flame underneath the pasta. “So you melt the butter and add the heavy cream. Add the spices and cheese to taste. Maybe I’ll put a little bit of garlic in, too.”

This was so cute. Levi moved back while he watched Eren unwrap the stick of butter, toss it in another pot, and start the flame. “Not too hot or it’ll burn.”

“Right.” Levi nodded and watched Eren swirl the butter around, occasionally adding the cream.

“So how was everything today?”

Everything was alright. The students were fine. Levi got his work done, or what he planned to at the school, the rest he brought home. His colleagues weren’t any more annoying than usual. So he shrugged and said that everything was normal. Eren wasn’t quick to believe. “Really? You look kind of sick for a good day.”

That screamed passive aggressive. Levi didn’t have a smart reply to it, so he didn’t say anything. He crossed his arms instead. Eren smirked and pulled him over, in front of himself. “Stir. C’mon.”

Levi did as he was told. Eren wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his head against his shoulder. “Have you vomited recently?”

The jig was up. “No.”

Levi could feel the eye roll. “Don’t lie. I can tell. The veins in your face are broken.”

“Gee, thanks.” Levi concentrated on swirling the spoon through the liquid in the pot.

Eren sighed. “When people vomit, for some reason I don’t remember, the little veins in their face pop. Stress or effort or something, to bring all that grossness up. Around your eyes and a little around your mouth, the veins are broken.”

Maybe Levi should have taken the extra effort in looking into a mirror this morning. Regardless, he ignored Eren until he coughed. “So?” That didn’t help. There was more silence between them while Levi stirred, throwing in the occasional spice.

When Eren tightened his grip around his waist, Levi had a flashback to his dream the night before and stood straight as a board. That got Eren’s attention unfortunately, and Levi was caught. He couldn’t keep it quiet. “Just been having weird dreams lately.”

“What kind of weird dreams?”

This wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. Unless… “Just. Well, last night, I dreamt that we were fooling around.” Levi felt Eren shift behind him.

“Fooling around? Care to go into detail?”

The perfect distraction. “You fucked me with a dildo.”

Eren was silent for a long time. “That can be arranged.”

Levi didn’t have the best angle, but if he did, he would have beaten Eren with the spoon. Ironic that the alfredo sauce was white. “In your dreams, you little shit.”

“Well, considering you were the one who dreamt about it...”

Levi dropped the spoon in the saucepan and wiggled around in Eren’s grasp, slapping him around. “Alright, alright! I’m sorry, I won’t be _saucy_ again!”

Levi let out a howl and kneed Eren in the thigh. That moron was in side-splitting laughter and couldn’t hold on. When he was doubled over, Levi smacked him twice over the head. Eren left one arm wrapped around his stomach and had the other poised over his head. Levi left him and grabbed his briefcase from near the door, making a beeline for his room and his desk. Eren was such a little shit. That wasn’t even funny.

Maybe it was a little funny.

He smiled a bit. It was a little funny.

After Eren had finished their dinner and Levi had finished his work, they were curled up on the couch together. Eren had noticed Levi’s little ploy earlier. He didn’t appreciate it. “Were you ever going to tell me the end of what you were talking about earlier?”

The dreams were not something Levi wanted to think about, much less talk about, whatever good it would do. He sighed instead, and wiggled himself until he was comfortable. “I didn’t plan on it, no.”

Eren nodded and pushed his palm into Levi’s hip. “Why not?”

No, no. No. “Eren, please.”

“No. Tell me. They were bad enough to make you sick; I think maybe you should talk about it? The mental stress isn’t good.”

“That’s all it is, is stress. They are because of stress.”

“And they made you sick.”

“All the dreams, vomiting, and the fevers were because of the stress. Not what you think.”

“How much vomiting did you do, exactly?”

Fuck. Levi groaned. “It’s so much easier to be honest with me. I don’t want to hear it!”

Eren had a point. How do you explain that you died, and beat the shit out of your boyfriend in a dream? You don’t. Not until you have a full understanding of what was going on in your brain. Which Levi didn’t. But maybe someone else would. He needed to find that someone, and fast, before Eren gave up and left him be. Eren wouldn’t know, he assumed, even if they should talk about it, and Levi was sure Hanji would have no idea. He thought back to when they talked about Eren’s dream, and she had no idea.

But he talked about it to Erwin, too.

Without warning, Levi bolted upright, fast enough to catch Eren off guard. He apologized, they both did, stupidly. Erwin had asked if Eren felt familiar. The answer was no, and Levi was clueless, but maybe his friend knows more. Erwin wouldn’t have asked otherwise. So Levi hurried to his phone, sliding a little bit when he stopped at his desk. There was a text from Hanji, not out of the norm, and he ignored it, opening up a new message.

_To: Erwin Smith_

_We need to chat._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I didn't put this out sooner. The ship war in the ereri tag on tumblr happened and I wanted to stay as far away from that as possible. 
> 
> Puppy Love is on hiatus offically now. After this chapter. I'm a little overloaded this semester, but I got some of my own stuff going on right now which is really the main problem.  
> I'm doing another thing with a friend of mine, a collab thing, so I'll probably put that on here? Chances are it'll stay on tumblr.   
> Speaking on which, my URL is sublevi. And I have a tag, #fic: puplove, for posting updates and such.

**Author's Note:**

> hhhh i posted it like a couple of weeks ago but i didn't like it so i took it down and revamped it apologies
> 
> So I said I'd post it when I hit 300 followers on tumblr and I did about an hour ago  
> and I originally planned on posting it tomorrow but nah i'll post it now why not 
> 
> i was supposed to be asleep by now omg  
> anyway here u go enjoy
> 
> uhm  
> tumblr? sublevi
> 
> and actually I looked at this one a preview and I'm gonna try to make the chapters longer from here, about another five hundred to a thousand words maybe  
> so 3000-3500 words in the future yooo cool dude


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